Ginger Edamame Soup

From Jennifer Berman

Jen was the driving force behind LTH Forum’s night on the soup line on January 30 — and somehow between all the emailing and cookie-wrangling she also managed to produce this fantastically silken edamame soup.  I print the recipe below, with her precise instructions and a warning that the luxurious texture can only be obtained through some meticulous straining. And straining again. The recipe for her Asian pork belly garnish follows.

Ingredients
2 16-ounce bags shelled edamame
2 tablespoons garlic (very finely minced or pressed)
2 tablespoons ginger (very finely minced)
2 tablespoons shallots (very finely minced)
6 cups veggie or chicken stock (may need more, depending on how thick or thin you like it)
2 tablespoons oil (I used a canola/olive mix)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preparation
To get the right consistency, I pureed the garlic cloves, ginger and shallots together in a food processor—to the consistency of almost a paste. Saute the mixture in the canola oil, low and slow–do not develop any color. Once the ginger/garlic/shallot mix is cooked through and translucent, add the edamame, 4 cups of stock, the sesame oil, honey, vinegar and soy sauce. Heat through slowly for an hour or so (you want the beans to soften as much as possible).

Once all ingredients are incorporated, blend in batches if necessary in a high-powered blender. Put the blended mixture through a food mill to remove as much of the pulp as possible and add back in additional stock to achieve the consistency and taste that you wish. You may wish to adjust other flavors at this time (soy sauce, vinegar, honey, salt & pepper). You also could add a can of coconut milk if you wanted a slightly creamier consistency. Garnish with Asian braised pork belly, “pickled” edamame (soy beans marinated in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil), enoki mushrooms and pea shoots.

Asian Braised Pork Belly

Ingredients
1 pound pork belly
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoons cloves
1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery with leaves
16 ounces good Belgian ale (I used Duvel)
½ cup soy sauce
2+ cups chicken stock
¼ cup sesame oil
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chili oil (with the “stuff” in it)

Preparation
Grind cloves and peppercorns until combined, then mix with salt and brown sugar and rub meat thoroughly, coating all surfaces and crevices. Refrigerate for 2 days to cure meat.

Remove meat from fridge, wash thoroughly, and dry completely. In oven-safe pan, sear meat starting skin-side down. Remove from pan. Add onions and celery to pan and sauté until cooked through—do NOT burn. Once veggies are soft, add the beer and simmer carefully (no burning!) until sauce reduces by a third. Add the remaining ingredients (soy sauce, stock, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and chili oil), mix and then add the pork belly back to the pan—the meat must be covered completely in liquid, including the fat. Bake in 350 oven for 90 minutes, remove the pork and refrigerate overnight (save the pan liquid/veggies).

The next day, slice then chop the pork belly into bite size pieces, combine again with about a cup or so of the braising liquid and bake for another half hour, then broil to crisp up. Serve with the edamame soup. Or just eat with a spoon.