How to make Thai five-spice soup with pork belly and boiled eggs (ไข่พะโล้หมู) | The non-strict diet recipe
When you want to be on a diet, and the meal plan says to include hard-boiled eggs for your breakfast, this Thai five-spice soup with hard-boiled eggs is always the top of my healthy eating recipe.
Plus, the broth is genuinely lip-licking with lots of spices and 3-flavor seasonality.
The recipe has low-carb and full of protein and some fat—yes, the yummy pork belly!—so if you’re on the keto diet, this will work entirely for you.
I’m fortunate to be grown up in Thailand, land of flavorful, healthy food. Mom always teaches me to eat right and enjoy life at the same time.
Don’t be too strict on yourself because your mind may not accept it.
When she looked at me eating those no-flavor steamed eggs and non-sweet salad, she asked me for the rest of the boiled eggs, I just made.
“Let’s cook!”
What’s in it?
To cook outside Thailand nowadays, most of the ingredients are easy to find either from a local Asian store or online market. You can use Chinese five spices but this recipe I recommend Lobo five-spice powder to create the unique broth aroma.
Here are the things I add…
Ingredients
- 30 cups fresh water
- 3 lbs Pork belly boneless roast
- 1.5 lbs Spare ribs cut
- 10 oz sour mustard in brine
- 1.5 lbs Chinese broccoli (Ka-na)
- 12 oz Fried tofu
- 24 hard-boiled eggs
- 3 Tbsp “Lobo” Palo powder(Chinese 5-spice blend)
- 9 oz Palm sugar
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
- 7 cloves pickled garlic and brine
- 3 cups black soy sauce (sweet)
- 2 cups mushroom soy sauce
- 2.5 cups seasoning sauce
- 2 Cinnamon sticks
- 5 Star aniseeds
The sweetness in the Thai five-spice soup broth is supposed to be outstanding. However, if you prefer it less sweet due to your calorie control, you can skip adding sugar and sweetness will remain a little from the pork bone and soy sauce (taste is still fantastic!)
How to cook it?
First, I start with making the pork stock by simmering the pork ribs for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, I begin to prepare everything else.
Directions
- Boil a dozen of eggs in salted water(just a pinch of salt per a gallon of water), and then quench it in cool water, so peeling off the shell will be easier. Set aside
- Slice pork belly about ½ inch piece, and then you can add it if the simmered pork ribs are soft or tender. *I try to avoid boiling the pork belly too long because it will become mushy and ragged.
- Wash and cut Chinese Broccoli obliquely, and separate stems and leaves. You can drop the stems to the pot in advance to let it soften.
- Unpack the green mustard, drain the juice and cut it about an inch long.
By the time all of the ingredients prepared and the ribs have been braised, we’re ready to add sauces and seasoning.
Add Five-spice powder
After we are adding the sauces, we are now ready to throw everything in the pot, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes more.
Next, you will need to recheck the flavor aiming for balancing sweet and salty equally and slightly sour from the pickled garlic and green mustard.
What do we eat with?
If you’ve already known one of popular Thai street food, “ Kao Kha Moo(a Thai-Chinese five-spiced pork hog over rice),” you can eat it the same way with extra broth.
Eating with rice is a typical Thai etiquette, and you will need to cook rice ready before everything else is prepared.
And a condiment…
The only dipping sauce to go with the Thai five-spice soup is chili vinegar, and it’s ridiculously easy.
How to make chili vinegar dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 23 Fresh Chili
- 1 cup White distilled vinegar
- 1tsp Sea salt
Directions
Conclusion
Even though we don’t know who has created the recipe, but you can find the Thai five-spice soup with hard-boiled eggs and pork belly everywhere at local food stalls in Thailand.
And, I love it, and I have been cooking it a thousand times, so the recipe here is the most recent and developed.
If you are trying to be on a diet with eating low carb, some fat, and decent protein, this Thai five-spice soup recipe has the benefit plus vitamins and minerals from herbs and spices.
Note:
- You can substitute with chicken drumsticks, a whole duck, or beef chunks, and the result is still fabulous.
- The soup broth can be used to make noodle soup, so you can try to add steamed thin noodle, bean sprout, cilantro, green onion and fried garlic.
- If there’s an extra broth, don’t throw it away! Freeze it and use it next time as a soup-based stock
Happy cooking everyone.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Pork belly
- 1.5 lbs Spare ribs
- 10 oz Sour mustard
- 1.5 lbs Chinese broccoli
- 12 oz Fried tofu
- 24 hard-boiled eggs
- 3 Tbsp Palo powder
- 9 oz Palm sugar
- 1 cup White granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
- 7 heads pickled garlic and brine
- 3 cups black soy sauce
- 2 cups mushroom soy sauce
- 2.5 cups seasoning sauce
- 2 Cinnamon sticks
- 5 Star aniseeds
Instructions
Boil a dozen of eggs in salted water(just a pinch of salt per a gallon of water), and then quench it in cool water, so peeling off the shell will be easier. Set aside
Braise the pork ribs until tender
Slice pork belly about ½ inch piece, and then you can add it if the simmered pork ribs are soft or tender.
Wash and cut Chinese Broccoli obliquely, and separate stems and leaves. You can drop the stems to the pot in advance to let it soften.
Unpack the green mustard, drain the juice and cut it about an inch long.
add the sauces, 5-spice powder and everything in the pot, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes more
Taste it again and adjust if needed
