Creamed Corn Soup with Meatballs

I am not much of a soup person and I can live quiet happily without soups. I know that most Chinese families have a soup with every meal but that was not the case with my family. My grandma may have cooked soup but I vaguely remember that. With my mum it is always a salad with every meal. Soup was pretty much alien to us.

It was my auntie who pretty much introduced me to soups. She has a soup on the dining table at dinner time and her soups are really delicious. In particular her beef soup with tendon, beef balls and tripe. That one was super yummy. She gave me the recipe before but heh..heh...I have forgotten. Ee-Ee, I will email you and request for the recipe **wink** **wink**.

When I was thinking of easy dinners for my weekdays, I resorted to soups because it is so convenient. I have either chicken or pork ribs soup. All I have to do is cook a big pot on Sunday, enough to last me from Monday to Thursday. It may seem boring eating the same thing for four days straight but I am OK with that. I'm not fussy when it comes to food. So when I come home from work, all  I need to do is put the soup on the stove and throw in my vegetables (all ready washed and cut on Sunday).  And I have myself a complete meal - a hassle free proteins and vegetable meal. 

This creamed corn soup is a little bit more elaborate than what I usually cook. Since this month's theme on Little Thumbs Up is corn, I decided to cook me a creamed corn soup. My auntie once cooked a very delicious soup which she thickened with potato starch, something pretty much like shark fin soup. So I thought why not do something like that using creamed style corn and meatballs.

I miss my grandma's meatball soup (Bakwan Th'ng) which I used to enjoy when I was small. One of the ingredients she put into the soup is wood ear fungus (bok nee) and I used to fish those out to eat with the meatballs. For this soup I used the bigger variety of wood ear fungus. I figured that it would add a nice crunch to the soup.

This soup would be a combination of my auntie's soup and grandma's meatball soup. I have used my grandma's meatball recipe and I remember grandma minced the pork using a cleaver. It was quiet a tedious process and I am so lucky to be able to buy minced pork from Aeon (Jusco).

So how did my soup turn out? I don't mean to blow my own trumpet, but I will have to say that it was pretty good. It was a delicious soup, flavorful and packed with chunky vegetables and yummy meatballs. The creamed corn added so much goodness and sweetness to the soup. It is great as an accompaniment to your meals or a wholesome complete meal by itself.

Creamed Corn Soup with Meatballs

Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

For the meatballs :

- 380g minced pork or chicken

- 1 big onion, finely minced

- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced

- 1 egg

- 2 tablespoons light soya sos

- 1 teaspoon sesame oil

- a good dash of pepper

For the soup :

- 1 medium sized carrot, cut into small cubes

- 1 piece wood ear fungus, soaked and cut into strips

- 1 can cream corn (425g)

- 1 big onion, minced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 600ml water

- 1 cube chicken stock

- some spring onions for garnishing

To thicken the soup :

- In a small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of potato starch with some water to form a runny paste.

- Set aside until ready to use.

Method :

For the meatballs :

1. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.

2. Set aside in the fridge to firm up while you work on the soup.

For the soup :

1. Heat oil in a pot.

2. Saute onions until translucent.

3. Add garlic and saute for a short while.

4. Add carrots and wood ear fungus and stir to mix.

5. Add water and bring to a boil.

6. When the soup is boiling, make your meatballs and drop them gently into the soup.

7. Let the soup simmer until meatballs are cooked.

8. Add creamed corn and bring to a boil.

9. To thicken the soup, pour the potato starch mixture a little at a time, stir the soup until you get the consistency that you like.

10. Serve immediately and garnish with spring onions.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Esther of Copycake Kitchen.