6 Soul-Satisfying Asian Soup Recipes
The Midwest's explosion of ramen shops inspired our six Asian soups—including dumpling soup, pad thai, and pork ramen—that are every sip as satisfying as Mom's chicken-noodle.
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Shortcut Dumpling Soup
You'll be amazed what a quick simmer with fresh ginger and scallions will do for boxed chicken broth. Throw in frozen pot stickers (Chinese dumplings), edamame and red cabbage for a nutritious dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes.
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Pork Ramen
The raging ramen restaurant fad has taught us that this centuries-old Japanese dish has approximately nothing to do with dorm-room fare. Our version features succulent pork shoulder, poached egg, bok choy, enoki mushrooms, crisp nori (seaweed) and a splash of chili oil. (Try doing all that in a Styrofoam cup.)
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Pad Thai Soup
We reimagined the traditionally sticky noodle stir-fry as a speedy soup. Peanuts, cilantro, lime zest and tangy tamarind fruit lend spot-on takeout flavor to rice noodles, chicken and zucchini.
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Spicy Shrimp Tom-Yum
This classic Thai soup usually starts with simmering shrimp shells to make stock. We opted for a shortcut, adding tomato, mushroom and shrimp to boxed seafood stock that we flavored with lemongrass and galangal (a knobby cousin to ginger).
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Szechuan Dan Dan
Originally sold as street food in China, this spicy dish features ground pork, lo mein noodles and a dark broth flavored with five-spice powder, black bean paste and black vinegar. We added snow peas and Chinese broccoli for color and nutrition.
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Fusion Bowl with Tofu and Soft-Cooked Egg
Carrot matchsticks, shiitake mushrooms and tender Napa cabbage hide in a tangle of chewy udon noodles. The tofu acts like a sponge, soaking up a sweet-and-spicy honey-Sriracha marinade.
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