Slow Cooker Pork and Coconut Soup by Stephanie Izard
We find our COOKGIRL closer to home this week with the adaptation of Stephanie Izard’s Pork and Coconut Soup from her cookbook Girl in the Kitchen.
Seduced by the photography I found Izard’s introduction helpful in establishing why some of the ingredients are not classically connected, in my mind, to the taste of the soup I anticipated.
Pork and Coconut Soup was Izard’s offering for an “Asian Night” themed pot luck party, assembled from the ingredients she happened to have to hand. The layering of flavors has an East meets West feel from fish sauce, chile paste, peanut butter and coconut milk to garlic, fennel seed, dijon mustard, red wine and tomatoes.
This soup is thick and creamy with a tang from the lime juice. If you love Thai red curry and Malaysian Penang curry then this soup will find a good home. I added cooked short grain brown rice to the soup and my kids loved every mouthful!
- 2 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed of fat
- 2 tsp / 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup soft brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp light olive oil
- 1 cup / 1 medium onion diced
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 x 14oz can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp sambal olek
- 1 x 14oz can coconut milk, reduced fat
- lime juice
- 1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
- cilantro
- rub the pork with the garlic, sugar, salt and pepper
- heat the oil over a medium heat in a large skillet and brown the pork on all sides 3-4 minutes
- add the onion to the pork and soften, 2 minutes
- transfer the pork and onion mixture to the slow cooker
- add the red wine, tomato sauce, peanut butter, chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, mustard, fennel seeds, fish sauce and sambal olek
- stir, cover and cook 8-9 hours on LOW / 4 hours on HIGH
- remove the lid and stir in the coconut milk
- shred the pork in the soup with two forks
- add a squeeze of lime juice, peanuts and cilantro to serve
- sambal olek - an Indonesian chili paste widely available in grocery stores.
“Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.”
-Marge Kennedy
