Thai Rice Soup With Pork-Cilantro Meatballs

Recipe from Leela Punyaratabandhu

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Thai Rice Soup With Pork-Cilantro Meatballs — Evan Sung for The New York Times

Total Time: 2 hours
Rating: 5(853)
Notes: Read community notes

Jok, also called congee, is a rice porridge that’s like the oatmeal of Asia -- a soft, soothing, filling breakfast that can be sparked with add-ins and toppings for flavor and crunch. Before dawn in Bangkok, jok vendors begin the battle to make the juiciest meatballs, the tiniest ginger matchsticks and the liveliest pickled fresh chiles. This recipe, which also makes a great lunch on a chilly weekend morning, is adapted from two cooks: Leela Punyaratabandhu, author of Simple Thai Food, who makes a vendor-style, puddingy jok; and Chrissy Teigen, the Thai-American supermodel, who makes a simpler version, adapted from her mother Vilaluck’s home recipe. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: Hearty Cravings, Sometimes Unfulfilled

Learn: How to Make Soup

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

For the Meatballs

2large cloves garlic, peeled
2tablespoons finely chopped cilantro roots or stems
½teaspoon white peppercorns
1pound ground pork
1tablespoon oyster sauce
1teaspoon soy sauce

For the Soup

1cup jasmine or long-grain rice
6cups light chicken stock (see note)

To Finish

6 to 8eggs, optional
Red chile powder (preferably Thai, but ancho or Aleppo will do)
12-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
¼cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
Fish sauce and sriracha, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Make the Meat Mixture
1. Step 1
  Pound or grind the garlic, cilantro and white pepper together into a coarse paste. Transfer to a bowl and add the pork, oyster sauce and soy sauce. Mix well, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
Make the Soup
1. Step 2
  In a large heavy pot, combine the rice and stock and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up any starch from the bottom to prevent scorching. Add 2 cups hot water and simmer 30 minutes more. Add another 2 cups hot water and simmer 20 to 30 minutes more, until the rice begins to fall apart in the soup.
2. Step 3
  From the refrigerator, remove the dumpling mixture and the eggs, if using. Heat your serving bowls. Adjust the heat under the soup so that it bubbles gently. Pinch off pieces of the meat mixture to make bite-size balls, dropping them one at a time into the soup. When all of the meatballs have firmed up and turned opaque, about 2 to 3 minutes after adding the last one, the soup is ready.
3. Step 4
  To serve, scoop a ladleful of soup into a bowl. Crack one egg, if using, into the bowl. Gently ladle more hot soup over the raw egg, covering it completely. After about 4 minutes, the eggs will be softly cooked. Dust each bowl with chile powder and sprinkle with ginger, scallions and cilantro. Serve immediately, passing fish sauce and sriracha at the table. Each diner breaks the egg yolk and scoops up the egg with the soup. Note: Use a very light-bodied chicken stock. If using prepared or canned broth or bouillon cubes, dilute with water until the salt and chicken flavors are very mild.

Ratings

5 out of 5

853 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Teresa6 years ago

Yum! Definitely don't ignore the note about very light chicken broth, or it will be much too salty. We found that we wanted the eggs a bit more cooked (they really spread out in the bowl and didn't get very cooked by the soup), so microwaved the bowls for about 90 seconds on 50% to set the eggwhite. Great food for a chilly/rainy evening or when you're sick.

Kristin6 years ago

Loved this! I added a squeeze of lime and some chopped peanuts as condiments. Don't sweat the white peppercorn business, just use black if that is all you have. :-) As mentioned, the egg needs to be on the small side to cook in the heat of the soup. I would recommend that you either fry an egg and slide it on top or skip it altogether.
There is plenty of rich flavor and protein in all of the meatballs and peanuts!

Margaux6 years ago

Fried garlic is an absolute necessity as a topping here!

Smrh886 years ago

Loved this dish. We baked the meatballs for 15 minutes at 425 and they were tender and tasty. Next time, will use chicken broth instead of water ( used chicken broth for 2 of the 4 cups of water addition but wished I used broth for all). Poached eggs separately for 3 minutes.

Laura6 years ago

I think here the idea is not to have a poached egg inside the soup, but a runny egg like in the Greek agvolemono soup, which gives the soup its yellow colour and creamyness

Jaime Louridas6 years ago

I used one cup of brown rice and, as suggested by another reviewer, soaked it overnight in water. I substituted 2 cups of light chicken broth for 2 cups of the water. I also simmered for the entire 30 minutes after adding the additional broth/ water to the rice. I put the following toppings out: chopped mint, Thai Basil, chopped peanuts, sliced green onions, lime wedges, fish sauce and sriacha sauce. I also poached the eggs separately and then added them to the soup. Amazing!

LH6 years ago

I gently poach the eggs separately on the stove (in a skillet of simmering water with a splash of white vinegar) simply slide one onto each bowl before serving. Much more dependable system for getting the egg exactly the way you want it.

Bernice Glenn6 years ago

If you soak brown rice for at least 2 hours before cooking, it will take less time to cook, and also be a bit softer.

Fiona6 years ago

Really good, but I added a bunch of stuff (as usual). I minced some scallions and added them to the meatballs, and minced some ginger and added it to the broth at the very beginning along with a bit of thai curry paste and fish sauce. Also added some sliced mushrooms about 45 minutes in, and torn kale about 10 minutes before the meatballs. I seasoned towards the end with soy sauce, poached the eggs separately, and served with lime wedges. Absolutely delicious.

Nina6 years ago

Yes, the meatballs are terrific - more tender last night right after they'd been cooked than today with reheating, but no complaints.

Leobot6 years ago

It is worth noting that I do not believe the nutrition info is entirely correct. I did the math because of another comment asking about it. 1 cup of my jasmine rice has 144 grams of carbohydrates. Divided by 6 servings, that is 24 grams, not 10.

Debbie6 years ago

Delicious, especially on a rainy evening. I was fortunate to have a jar of pickled shiitake mushrooms and they were great on top along with thai bird pepper hot sauce. I also made 5 minute eggs because I thought my family would be more open to those. I also grated the ginger and stirred it in during the last 30 minutes. Nice recipe!

Laurie2 years ago

I ordered this for lunch today at a restaurant in Jim Thorpe,PA. It was so very delicious! Apparently the chef saw it in the Times yesterday and decided to offer it today. The chef made it without the egg, which actually looked more attractive as the broth was more translucent. Also, the chef served the soup in a shallow soup bowl with the rice mounded, rather than distributed throughout the soup. The meatballs are wonderful! I am so looking forward to making this at home.

Sophia Z.1 year ago

A little life hack from Woks of Life - if you add a bit of water to uncooked rice (just enough so that each little bit of rice is wet) and freeze it, it will only take 20 minutes to make the porridge. The idea is that during the freezing process, the water will expand and break apart the rice. Making it faster to cook. I’ve since started doing this when I cook porridge and it saves SO MUCH TIME.

aritamay2 months ago

Could I use leftover rice to speed up process ?

bee4 months ago

I used another commenter’s tip and poured a bit of water over the rice and froze it for like a half hour while refrigerating the meatballs and it started breaking apart after only like 25 minutes of simmering, really sped everything up. The meatballs definitely could’ve used an additional pinch of salt, the fish sauce really helped overall, and an addition of crushed salted peanuts made the whole dish. In the future I would definitely add fried garlic as a topping.

Sammy5 months ago

To be fair, I suspect I messed up the proportion of rice to liquid. However, as many others have pointed out, the egg does not cook with the soup ladled over it; it has to be cooked separately, which is a bit of pain. The bottom line for me is I was not as blown away as I expected to be by the taste of this dish.

hunterpend8 months ago

Like others I made additions: fried shallots at the end, green onion to the meatballs, ginger and garlic to the Juk. Additionally, I briefly pan-fried the dumplings on one side to get a bit of frond to develop. Huge hit.

dwakulch558 months ago

I poached the eggs for 3 min separately, and added them to the bowls of soup, worked great!

Sophia Z.1 year ago

Aileen1 year ago

Meatballs needed more salt than 1tsp of soy sauce could offer. I used low sodium chicken stock from Trader Joe's and needed to add so much soy sauce and siracha to give it some flavor. The egg definitely doesn't get cooked in the bowl, even when mixed into the soup. I make congee regularly and this isn't one I'd make again.

vicki1 year ago

I didnt have any oyster sauce, sosubbed Trader Joes DRAGON SAUCE in meatballs, and at the end on broth. YUMM

Gaby1 year ago

I have a cold and I remembered southasians eat congee when they're sick so I was glad to find this recipe. I loved it. Definitely do not skip the egg. I tried it both ways and the egg gives it tons of flavor. I used piquin chilli powder instead of thai and it worked great.

Cathy Sanford1 year ago

Made soup with fresh XCJ noodles, rather than rice, and topped with fried onions. Lovely, savory flavor.

definitely add fish sauce1 year ago

My wife is Chinese and often makes congee. For me this recipe lacks flavor. I would make sure to add 2 teaspoons quality fish sauce.

Thea Koshman2 years ago

We made our own broth with bone in chicken thighs, garlic, the holy trio, peppercorns and coarsely chopped ginger. We used more cilantro in the meatballs, egg and pinko. Upon serving, the egg didn’t even slightly cook in the boiling hot congee so I microwaved my bowl of congee for about 10 seconds. My husband did not. He left his sit for at least 10 minutes and the egg was still raw. Topped with ginger, green onions, cilantro, sriracha, fish sauce and a squeeze of lime, it was delicious !

Tami2 years ago

This meal was delicious. That said, I have serious doubts that this exact recipe was actually tried and worked through before they published it. The rice did not break down after two rounds and another round of hot water/ cooking still wasn’t enough and we had to simmer for quite a while longer. When serving, we made sure the bowls were preheated and that the soup was absolutely boiling before adding eggs. Even so, the eggs were grossly undercooked. The flavors were great. Adjustments needed!

Laurie2 years ago

Laura2 years ago

Definite keeper! Hearty soup/porridge for the cold weather. Found that the rice cooked faster than the recipe times but ok as long as it is watched closely. I was hesitant to drop the egg in the dish raw so I scrambled a couple of eggs and stirred it into the soup stracciatella style. Meatballs were juicy and the addition of ginger, scallion and cilantro to the soup gave it a nice flavor with some texture.

Private notes are only visible to you.