It’s still soup season, so let’s embrace it with this turmeric turkey meatball soup.
I can tell from the fact that I dared to venture out without a coat on today that sock-free season is approaching, but that we likely still have a week where we need stick-to-your ribs sustenance, and I’ve got a few going on this week that fit that bill.
The first came to me when I thought about adapting one of my childhood Burmese favorites, mohinga. However, I had some glorious turkey stock in the freezer and wanted to make this one poultry based rather than fish, and the result worked splendidly. If you stored away some of homemade turkey stock from Thanksgiving, this is the time to use it. If not, I always encourage you to make your own, but don’t know know that they know sell turkey stock in the market? Wonders never cease, so if you don’t have time to make your own, you should be able to find turkey stock, no problem. If you can’t, chicken will work just as well.
Like the base from the mohinga, the base remains simple: onion, lemongrass, ginger and garlic. A bit of paprika and turmeric for color and fish sauce for that wonderful umami. The meatballs themselves are seasoned simply with salt and paper and some bok toy at the ends add some greenery and health. Noodles always optional in my world, make it ramen-esque.
And who doesn’t just love a steamy bowl of noodles to get you through the day?
Turmeric Turkey Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 large onion, sliced (about 1 -1 1/4 cups)
- 2 TB sliced lemongrass
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1" ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 4 TB fish sauce
- 6 cups homemade turkey stock
- 1 pound ground turkey meat
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 pound spaghetti noodles, cooked and warm.
- 3 baby bok choy, washed and sliced
- cilantro, chopped, to garnish
- scallions, sliced, to garnish
- lime, to serve
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oil in large stock pot over medium and add the onions and shallots. Cook 5-6 minutes.
- Step 2 While the onions are cooking, in a medium bowl, add the ground turkey, salt and pepper. Mix well and roll into meatballs, about 2 TB of mix each. Set aside.
- Step 3 To the onions, add the shallots, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, paprika and turmeric. Cook about 2 minutes to get everything good and melded together. Add the stock and fish sauce. Bring to a medium boil.
- Step 4 Once the soup is boiling, add the meatballs in an let them cook through. This should only take about 5 minutes or so, but check them for doneness and cook longer if needed.
- Step 5 Once the meatballs are done- serve the soup. Divide the noodles and bok choy evenly into 6 bowls. Pour the hot soup over the noodles and garnish with cilantro, scallions and a squeeze of lime.
