Canh (Vietnamese cabbage soup)

Another Vietnamese staple - canh! (And luckily, one of Jonathan's favorites.) Growing up, we'd always have a soup like this, a protein dish, and Jasmine rice

for dinner. This can also be made with other veggies instead of cabbage. I've used cauliflower (one of my FAVES as a kid), chayote squash and watercress in the past. Don't like pork? Ground up or just throw in some whole shrimp instead (or IN ADDITION to pork!)

for meat:

1/3 - 1/2 pound ground pork (I usually take two thin sliced boneless pork chops and grind them in my mini-prep cuisinart)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. sugar

1/8-1/4 tsp. pepper

half head cabbage sliced into small strips

for broth:

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

dash of oil

Chopped cilantro and/or fried shallots for garnishing

1) Mix ingredients for ground meat and set aside. (If you're lazy, I sometimes just slice up pieces of pork instead of grinding it.)

2) In medium stock pot, heat oil, garlic and shallot until fragrant.

3) Pour in chicken broth and bring to boil.

4) As you're bringing the broth to a boil, drop in small chunks of pork (about half tsp. size). 

5) Let pork cook in boiling broth for 1-2 minutes.

6) Add sliced cabbage, fish sauce and sugar.

7) Reduce heat to medium, cover pot, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

8) Optional: Season/garnish each individual bowl with fresh cracked pepper, chopped cilantro and friend shallots before serving.