Soft Rice Soup Recipe

- Kayla
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Soft Rice Soup with ginger, green onions, eggs poached in broth, ground pork, cilantro
This is a soup that has a long history for me, personally. My step-mom (Ramphai) is originally from Thailand, and she is an amazing cook. During trips to visit her and my dad in Alaska, she should make this soup for breakfast before we would go out fishing with my dad. Sometimes I would ask her to make it for dinner, or just because it sounded comforting.
I learned from her how to make this later in childhood, and loved making it for friends and family for now over half my life. Over the years, the recipe may have slowly changed, I’m sure my version has a different personality than hers. They both have the same ingredients: rice, chicken broth, ground pork, cilantro, soy sauce, green onions…but ratios may have slowly changed.
I am not sure if “Soft Rice Soup” is the original name for the recipe, but it is what she called and I don’t plan on questioning her anytime soon. My husband frequently adds various forms of hot sauce to his. Ultimately, it’s a breakfast soup. I’ve tried explaining this to my husband and friends, but they all agree they prefer it at night. I do have to note that some friends that are/were in the military ended up calling it “Hangover Soup”, and they swear it works (can’t argue with results). This recipe has traveled with me, while it continues to provide me comfort and memories to this day.
 
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Soft Rice Soup

In trips to visit my step-mom and my dad in Alaska, my step-mom should make this soup for breakfast before we would go out fishing with my dad. Sometimes I would ask her to make it for dinner, or just because it sounded comforting. I'm sure my version has a different personality than hers, but they both have the same ingredients: rice, chicken broth, ground pork, cilantro, soy sauce, green onions.

Course: Breakfast, Main Course
Ingredients
  • 1 cup long grain rice, uncooked if using cooked rice, use 2 cups and see directions below
  • 3 cup water
  • 16 cup chicken broth
  • ¼ cup ginger root peeled and grated
  • 3 Tbsp minced garlic
  • ¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce you can use tamari, for gluten free option
  • ½ tsp black pepper or to taste, may need to increase if not using sriracha hot chili sauce
  • 1 pound ground pork (not seasoned pork sausage)
  • 1 cilantro chopped, discarding stems (about 1 to 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 bunch green onions chopped (about 2/3 to 1 cup)
  • 8 whole eggs
  • hot sauce of choice optional
Instructions
Cook the Rice (If you have 2 cups of already cooked rice, you can skip this step)

  1. In a stock pot combine rice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. (A large soup pot tends to boil over at times, so I prefer to go larger. Also, a stock pot tends to have a larger surface area which helps when putting in the eggs). 

    *If you have 2 cups of already cooked rice, you can skip this step. Just add your rice and add a cup of water to your pot and skip to the next step.

Prepare Your Broth and Cook Pork

  1. Remove lid and add chicken broth, grated ginger root, minced garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. 

  2. Add ground pork, breaking it up as you drop it into the broth. Cook until ground pork is cooked completely. Reduced heat to a low simmer.

  3. Add ½ of the chopped cilantro and ½ of the chopped green onions.

Cook the Eggs and Finish

  1. Crack eggs into small dish and add them one at a time into soup, dropping them as close to the soup as possible (start by circling clockwise around the edge and ending in the middle of the pot). Try to keep them from touching each other. Do not stir once eggs are added, so that they poach whole in the soup. 

  2. Cook for 10-11 minutes, or until whites of eggs are completely set (I prefer yolks to be slightly runny, you may need an additional 1-2 minutes for more cooked yolks to eggs).

    Remove from heat.

  3. Serve topped with remaining green onions and cilantro. 

    If you want you can top with hot sauce to taste.

Recipe Notes

Ultimately, it's a breakfast soup. I've tried explaining this to my husband and friends, but they all agree they prefer it at night. I do have to note that some friends that are/were in the military ended up calling it "Hangover Soup", and they swear it works (can't argue with results).