Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

I’m reeeeeally into daikon noodles right now. They’re so versatile – they absorb flavors easily and...

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

I’m reeeeeally into daikon noodles right now. They’re so versatile – they absorb flavors easily and thus, are ideal for noodle soups.

I’m also really into meatballs. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve made turkey, quinoa, lentil, chicken and now pork meatballs.

Call it wedding brain, but I’m into my proteins in a golf ball-like formation.

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

I’ve been meaning to make a spaghetti and meatball soup, but honestly, spaghetti and meatballs are best left as a pasta dish. I feel like these traditional flavors get lost as a soup – it’s better to have a creamy, smooth tomato sauce than something, well, soupy.

However, switch over to another type of cuisine and set of flavors and we can tackle the “spaghetti and meatball” soup dilemma: as “daikon noodles and pork meatballs.”

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

Side bar: this is a great trick to add quick flavor to predictable foods. For instance, if you’re making tomato sauce and zucchini noodles with parmesan almost every night, try giving the dish a Mexican flair by using jalapenos in the tomato sauce and cotija cheese instead of parmesan. It’s an easy way to get out of a rut, but still make something familiar.

Guys. Girls. Ladies. Gentlemen. Not only is this one of the most delicious dishes I’ve ever created, it’s almost unbelievably low in calories and carbs. A lot of you have been asking me about my daily diet and well, I eat things like this – pork and noodles – and I lose weight!

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

You can kiss portion control goodbye with this dish (there’s no need!) The broth is savory, salty, and rich with flavors like sesame, soy and ginger. The scallions, soy sauce and ginger in the meatballs are brought out as they submerge in the soup.

The broccolini is a fun addition to this noodle dish, bringing in color and health benefits such as Vitamin C, potassium (loads of it!) and immune-boosters such as beta-carotene!

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

Lastly, what’s great about this dish is that you can make the meatballs, pop them in the oven and then start on the soup – once the soup is done, the meatballs are too! The timing on this recipe is built perfectly, so no need to drive yourself crazy, running around the kitchen trying to get everything done before the oven beeps.

These leftovers are sitting in the fridge, and I can’t wait for Lu to come home and test them out!

What do you think of spaghetti and meatball soups?

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Inspiralized

Daikon Noodles and Broccolini with Asian Pork Meatballs

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • For the meatballs:
  • 1 pound lean ground pork
  • 1 teaspoon peeled and minced ginger
  • 1/3 cup chopped scallions
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari, if you’re gluten free
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
  • 3 teaspoons chopped cilantro
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • For the soup:
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger
  • 2 bunches broccolini halved (make sure to cut off any rough ends on the stems)
  • pepper to taste
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari, if you’re gluten free
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chili sauce or sriracha
  • 3 medium daikon radishes peeled, Blade C, noodles trimmed
  • ½ cup cilantro leaves

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Place all of the ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl and mix together. Form 10-12 golf ball sized meatballs with hands and place on the parchment paper. Bake until cooked through, about 18 minutes.
  • Once you place the meatballs in the oven to bake, place a large saucepan over medium heat and add in the sesame oil. Once oil heats, add in the ginger, cooking for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add in the broccolini, season with pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes or until it turns bright green. Add in the chicken broth, water, soy sauce, fish sauce and chili sauce. Cover and bring to a boil and then uncover, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes until broccolini is crisp-tender. Then, add in the daikon noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes or until noodles are to your preference (if you like al dente, no more than 3 minutes, if you like softer, go up to 5 minutes.)
  • Portion the soup into bowls, top with 3 golf ball sized meatballs. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
with love, Ali

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Recipe Rating




comments

  • MMM this looks amazing! Can't wait to try it!
  • Hi Ali, I LOVE how you like forming your proteins in golf-ball shapes, lately! Your humor is so enjoyable as well as your recipes! I love daikon radishes too, not cause I'm Asian and a holistic health coach, but cause it has super good nutrients like Vitamin C. Bon apetit! Thanks for your recipes and humor!!
  • Wow, I took one look and had to have this for lunch. I subbed beef meatballs for pork and kale for broccolini, since that is what I had at home. I'm eating it now. Yum. I recommend adding in a little rice vinegar to the broth, to give it a bit more edge.
  • Now daikon is one veggie I wouldn't have thought to spiralize! SO crazy cool. And i love adding in new flavors to more traditional foods. Great way to mix it up!
  • Such a lovely Asian dish! I look forward more Asian inspired noodles recipes. I wonder if turnip is spiralizable?
    • Yes, it is! You can find turnip recipes here: www.inspiralized.com/category/turnip!
  • I loved this unique soup and will definitely make it again! One word of advice - seasame oil has an extremely low smoke point, and even once mixed with the broth my soup was smoking a bit and has a slightly scalded taste. I think next time I will just cook down the brocolini with a bit of water and sprinkle a few drops of seasame oil into the bowl before serving for that delicious flavor. thanks for such a wonderful recipe Ali!!
  • Sooooo good! Thanks for this recipe. My family loved it.
  • So there was a giant daikon at my farmers market. And I have been trying to incorporate more veggies and try new things. And this hit both parameters. BTW when I say giant it was large enough I had to chop it into 3 sections. Anyways, I made this recipe and I took a bite of the daikon and was so impressed at how tender and flavorful it was. And the balls, so yummy. I didn't have fresh ginger, so I can't wait to make this again when I have some.
  • What is the substitute for Daikon Radishes? I can't find it anywhere? Does anyone know? Thanks!
  • Made recipe as directed first time. The second time I had some ground chicken and not enough time to make the little meatballs. Mixed seasonings into the pound of ground chicken and made four burgers. Browned on one side--flipped and while cooking the other side used spatula to chunk into about 1 inch squarish sections. I also didn't have the Daikon or broccolini but the broth with the seasonings is so good I figured I could spiralize almost any veggie and it would work. I used zucchini zoodles (C) added right into the broth and sautéed sweet potato (C) noodles al Dente and a few chopped swiss chard leaves. Came out great! Very versatile recipe!
  • Here is a silly question - when you say "Chicken Broth" is this condensed or ready-to-eat? I imagine it it ready-to-eat or condensed with water adding up to the 4 cups - plus 2 extra cups of water? Otherwise, I would think it would be very salty!! Thanks!!
  • Made this for dinner! It was delicious. Thanks for the inspiration. Luckily there are some leftovers.