Here comes the rainy days. It’s monsoon season again… There’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of warm and hearty homemade soup on this wet and nippy weather. I’ll be sharing a family favorite soup recipe- Almondigas!
Almondigas recipe is inspired by Spanish/Mexican “Albondigas” which literally means meatballs. The Filipino version also known as Bola-bola with Misua, has notably a Chinese influence with the use of misua. The original Filipino recipe has “sponge gourd” or patola. Since my two boys don’t eat patola, I skipped that but added minced jicama or singkamas and carrots on the meatball mix instead.
Almondigas Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
Meatsballs:
1/4 kilo lean ground pork
1/4 kilo shrimp, shelled and finely chopped
2 stalks of spring onions or small onion (finely chopped)
1 small carrot, minced
1 singkamas minced (as extender/optional)
1 slightly beaten egg as binder
salt and pepper to taste
Meatballs about an inch size
Broth:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 big white onion,finely sliced
2 tsb cooking oil (olive oil if available)
8 cups shrimp or pork stock, rice washing or plain water with 2 pork/shrimp cubes
1 pack miswa noodles
salt and pepper to taste
patis (fish sauce)(0ptional)
Topping/Garnishing:
2 tbsp green onions or chives, finely chopped or
toasted garlic
Procedure:
In cooking almondigas you have the option to brown the meatballs in oil first, but It will make the broth oily, or just do the shortcut of just dropping the meatballs directly to the broth.
1. Mix the pork, shrimp, parsley, carrots, singkamas, egg, salt and pepper.If shrimp is not available, use 1/2 kilo of pork instead.
2. Shape into small balls. (thumbsize)
3: Brown meat ball for 3-4 minutes on each side then drain excess oil using paper towels. (Skip this if you prefer doing the shortcut)
4. In a deep pan, saute the garlic and onions in olive oil.
5. Add the stock or water and pork/shrimp cubes and bring to boil.
6. Drop the meat balls into the boiling broth.
7. Once the meat balls are done, add the misua noodles, and then remove the pan off the heat.
8. Season with salt and pepper or (fish sauce/patis-optional)
9. Top with finely chopped green onions or chives and garlic flakes. Enjoy!
Cooking tips:
1.Make meatballs ahead of time and these can be kept in the freezer for two weeks. However,ommit the veggies- carrots, parsley, and singkamas if you intend to do this.
2. Misua will thicken or absorb the broth easily, just thin it out by adding broth or water.
