Pork Pho with Zucchini Noodles

There are days you just want a warm bowl that feels like real comfort. This pho-style soup is that bowl. It builds its depth from charred onion, cinnamon, ginger, and garlic, so you get the fragrant, restorative quality of pho from whole-food ingredients. Spiralized zucchini stands in for the rice noodles and keeps the whole thing light.

A long-simmered broth is gentle on digestion and a steady source of minerals, and the pork adds protein and B vitamins that support energy and repair as your body does its healing work. Ginger has a long history as a calming aromatic for the gut. This is food that warms you from the inside while it feeds you.

The pig gave its life for this meal. Char the onion slowly, let the cinnamon and ginger scent the kitchen, and ladle the broth over the bowls with care. Top it with fresh herbs and bring it to a quiet table. A soup like this rewards your full attention.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, halved
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 inch ginger
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1.5 lb pork shoulder steaks
• salt
• 1 large zucchini, spiralized
• 2 green onion stalks
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 lime, quartered

The source version also uses star anise, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. All four are left out here: star anise, coriander, and black pepper are seed-based spices and red pepper flakes are a nightshade, all excluded on the elimination phase. The cinnamon stick, ginger, and garlic carry the aromatic backbone on their own. If you are managing interstitial cystitis, the source also notes you can omit the onion and lime.

Method

• Char the halved onion cut-side down in a little of the oil until it blackens, then move it to a saucepan.
• Briefly warm the garlic and cinnamon stick in the same pan, then add them to the saucepan along with the ginger and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer.
• Season the pork steaks with salt and pan-cook them in the remaining oil, 4 to 8 minutes per side. Rest 5 minutes, then slice thin and divide among 4 bowls with the raw spiralized zucchini.
• Strain the hot broth into the bowls. Top with green onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

Instant Pot variation

Char the onion on the Saute setting, then add the garlic, cinnamon, ginger, and broth and pressure cook briefly to deepen the broth. Cook the pork separately on Saute or sear it first, then slice. Assemble the bowls as above.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*