The best soups are the “finish the stuff that’s in the fridge with no real plan” recipes. It was the last day before my CSA came and I had a few things left in the fridge. 2 leeks, some sad celery, a package of ground pork and some leftover sushi rice. The result was one of my favorite soups in a while!

It started with a Vietnamese influence (perusing Andrea Nguyen’s books) but that’s not where it went… It’s ambiguously Asian without a home country.

I told a vegetarian someone I’d post a new recipe and this one was overdue and waiting for me and it’s super not vegetarian. So…substitute something for pork, omit the fish sauce, use veg or mushroom stock….then tell me if it was any good!!

2 leeks, sliced into half moons and fried until crispy

1/2 onion, diced
1lb ground pork
1 stalk celery, diced
1T ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

3T usukuchi or soy sauce
2T fish sauce

6 cups chicken stock

chili crunch
rice
lime

In a large pot, saute onions, pork, celery and ginger over medium heat until onions are melted and pork is browned. About 15 minutes. I didn’t want to end up with chunks of onions so i cooked it maybe longer…whatever works for you.

Add 2 cloves garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add usukuchi and fish sauce and heat for about a minute.

Add chicken stock and simmer together for 5-10 minutes.

To serve, ladle over a scoop of rice and top with chili crisp, the fried leeks and a big squeeze of lime juice.