Mar 21st, 2010
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Meatball Ginger Stew

This weekend my husband I were both too sick to go shopping for fresh ingredients. Luckily between our pantry, freezer and the remaining scraps of vegetables in our fridge I was able to cook up a big batch of spicy ginger and beef soup that would nourish us back to health. What do you wish someone would cook for you while you’re sick?

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a blog post from Reiko. She made a meatball and green pepper soup in a Japanese ginger broth. I love Japanese food and decided to make a soup similar to this containing beef meatballs. Reiko’s broth had a fish base which I thought would be too strong, and compliment pork better than beef, so I searched for an alternative broth.

The one that caught my attention came from Kahakai Kitchen. It originates from a Tyler Florence cook book, Dinner at My Place. I liked that the broth included the meaty flavour of shitake mushrooms and saltiness of kelp.

Since this recipe has been in the back of mind for a while and so all of the ingredients were already in our kitchen. As a bonus this also gave me the opportunity to use our grass-fred ground beef to cook something other than homemade hamburgers.

I was aiming for something really gingery that would soothe our symptoms. In the end the soup was really meaty and the ginger and green onions added a refreshing flavour to the soup overall. My senses are probably dulled from my cold, but I think this soup would actually benefit from even more ginger, depending on your tastes. Also, does anyone have a suggestion for a herb that could be incorporated into the meatballs that would add more freshness? Maybe, basil or mint? I didn’t have any around so I couldn’t experiment. My husband still loved this and he was sniffle free today, which is what really matters :)

While checking out Deb’s blog I also noticed that she hosts Souper Sunday. Every Sunday she posts a recipe for a soup, salad or sammie and at the same time features a few others prepared and submitted by other bloggers. This soup is my first submission to Souper Sunday :)

slowcookergingerbeefsoup.jpg

Meatball Ginger Stew

Prep: 45 minutes (if you make your own meatballs)
Cook: 6-8 hours (low) 4 hours (high)
Yield: 8-10 servings (prepared in a 6.5 quart slow cooker)

  • 1 1⁄2 cups sliced green onions
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 sheet dried kelp (kombu)
  •  1⁄2 cup soy sauce
  • 2 lbs ground beef (or stewing beef, cut into 2 cm pieces)
  • 8 dried shitake mushrooms
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp cooking sherry
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  •  1⁄2 cups peeled and grated ginger
  • 2 eggs
  • 12 cups beef broth (I used bouillon cube dissolved in hot water)

For the meatballs:

Whisk the eggs and ¼ cup soy sauce together.

Add the ground beef, and work the ingredients together with your hands.

Form small, 1-2 cm diameter meatballs by rolling about 2-3 tsp of mixture together between the palms of your hands.

For the stew:

Place onions, carrots and mushrooms into the slow cooker.

Brown the meat balls in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat (in batches). Transfer to a plate.

Stir the ginger into the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant.

Stir in the sherry and the remaining ¼ cup of soy sauce, and return the meatballs to the the skillet. Stir everything together.

Add the beef broth and bring to a simmer. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker. Add one sheet of dried kelp. (I placed this on top so that it would be easy to remove when cooking is complete.)

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Remove the sheet of kelp, stir in green onions, cover and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.