Slow Cooker Pork and Edamame Soup

This is a soup I made on New Year's Day. I was trying to keep with the tradition of eating pork and cabbage on New Year's Day, so I made this pork soup and then a cabbage side dish. I got this recipe from Food.com, but it's originally from Better Homes and Gardens.

Slow Cooker Pork and Edamame Soup

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless pork, cut into ½” cubes

1 tbsp oil

3 cups chicken broth

1 (12 oz.) package frozen edamame, thawed and shelled

1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 (3 oz.) package ramen noodles, broken (discard seasoning packet)

Directions:

Place pork in slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth, edamame, water chestnuts, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, crushed red pepper, and garlic. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3½ to 4 hours. Skim off fat. Stir in ramen noodles. Cover and cook for 5 minutes more.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 (440 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Calories 613.4

Fat 40.1g

Saturated Fat 12.6g

Cholesterol 107.5mg

Sodium 1103.4mg

Carbohydrate 24.9g

Fiber 4.0g

Protein 38.3g

This was really good. I liked it a lot, but Jim went so far as to say that it is the best soup he's ever had. Wow!

I only changed a few things. It originally called for the pork to be in 1" cubes, but I thought the chunks were a little big, so next time I will do ½” cubes. Also, it called for browning the pork in a skillet before adding to the slow cooker. I didn't really think that was necessary, so I tried it without and it was just fine. Maybe not as pretty, but I don't care.

Other than that, I didn't really change much. It called for a red bell pepper, which I left out because of personal preference, but if you like peppers you should add it because it will brighten the color a bit.

I'm sure I'll be making this soup many more times in the future, based on Jim's review!