Coriander (Cilantro) Fish Ball Soup

JustJanS's Note:

I found this recipe on Taste.com.au but I modified it a lot for our dinner tonight. The two of us greedy pigs ate it all, but more modest eaters could get 3 serves I reckon. The original recipe had more of the ingredients, but we are just two, so I am posting it for us to make again soon. We thought it was wonderful! It might look like a lot of ingredients, but I thought it was super easy to make. The nutritional data on my chicken stock said it was virtuallyt fat free as were the pad-thai noodles, but Food.com's data thinks differently!

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

Broth

• 4 cups fat-free chicken stock
• 2 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, sliced
• 2 whole star anise
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 green chili, divided
• 1 garlic clove

Balls

• 350 g boneless white fish fillets, skin removed, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• salt and pepper

To Finish

• 200 g dried rice-stick noodles (pad Thai)
• 1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
• 50 g snow peas, trimmed
• 1 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed, cut in half
• fresh coriander leaves, to serve
• lime wedge, to serve

Directions:

1. Place stock, ginger, star anise, soy sauce,sugar, garlic and half the green chilli in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until slightly reduced.
2. Meanwhile, place fish, coriander, lime rind, garlic in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Process until combined. Roll heaped tablespoons of mixture into balls.
3. Place noodles in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Using a fork, separate noodles. Drain.
4. Strain stock mixture into a bowl. Return to pan over medium heat. Add fish balls to stock mixture. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, then add the broccoli florets through. Cook for two minutes, then add the asparagus, cook a minute more, then lastly dd snow peas. Cook for 1 minute or until tender.
5. Divide noodles between bowls. Ladle soup, vegetables and fish balls over noodles. Top with coriander and serve with a lime wedge.