Gulaschkanone - Steel & Lace's Field Kitchen

[Bombast the Blue]

Meatball Soup


Ingredients (base - for around 4 bowls I guess)
Water: 1 l
Olive oil: not enough to cover the pot's bottom because there will be also...
Margarine: enough to at least finish that job
Vinegar (preferably cider/apple): Three or four squishes (short squishes, say not much more than a second each?)
Soy sauce: more or less as vinegar
Meatballs (turkey, chicken maybe other ones): 6 (aprox. 180 g) (its actually half a packet as they come around here)
Baloon pepper: not too large bunch of slices (say something up to a quarter of a whole baloon unless you like it a lot)
Carrot: one, or two if smallish
Chick peas: a can or a flask.
Garlic (chopped): generous bunch (say 2 to 3 cloves worth)


Ingredients (optional / alternative)
Dry fruit oils: just a little bit (optional)
"Chinese", "Thai" or other "asian" vegetable mixes: some (optional)
Can of baked beans in tomato sauce (alternative to chick peas)
Chopped onion: a bit, not far from the amount of garlic (optional)
Egg: one (optional)



Reserve water - I use a 1/2 l measure cup.
Drop a pool of olive oil onto a pot and few slivers of margarine.
The idea is that the mix covers the bottom.
Give it low intensity fire.
Add three or four squishes of vinegar - my favourite is cider/apple one.
But please, I'm talking about second long or about, squishes, so don't get distracted.
Add more or less same amount of soy sauce.
Meatballs I use have been of turkey so far, but feel free to try chicken or other.
Cut them in halves, successively, until you get 8 bits from each one.
Preferably I'll do it while they are defreezing so as not to squash them in the process.
If I'm using them "as purchased" (just refrigerated) or if I let them defreeze too much...
I throw them in the pot whole, cook'em at least until they seal (brown all around) and then I take them out, cut, and throw them bits back in.
In any case, if at some point the meat starts sticking to the bottom of the pot just throw a bit of the reserved water in and mix to prevent it.
One ingredient I use to add around this time is baloon pepper in pieces (usually get it bagged as frozen slices).
A carrot cut in whole, half or quarter roundels dependeing on size. (Only cut in quarter roundels if its a huge one)
When the meatball bits are cooked its time to throw the rest of the 1/2 l water in and reserve a second 1/2 l.
With water covering the ingredients its no longer important to keep the fire low.
So you may want (or not) speed things up by giving it more power.
By the time that first batch of water is hot you may think of pouring the flasked or canned chick peas in.
(Of course these will almost certainly be already cooked and salted, if by any chance you use the "natural" kind in dry form...
You'll need to soak them in water for hours and preferably pre cook separately maybe with a pinch of salt)
Then chopped garlic - I usually machine chop a bunch of it and freeze - a generous bunch in.
Finally pour the second batch of 1/2 l water for volume and keep the fire on until the whole thing is hot.

Most people will probably think more readily of going for it warm but I can tell you its great right out of the fridge during Portuguese summer.


Optionals and alternatives:
If you like dry fruit flavours and have something like sesame or peanut oil throw a little bit in with the other fat ingredients.
If you don't have or don't like the baloon peppers don't mind much (they're very popular here but I don't know about elsewhere).
In case you grab hold of some kind of "oriental / asian" vegetable mix use some.
Lately, not having chick peas I've been using cans of "baked beans in tomato sauce".
This tends to produce a difference in the soup's texture, becoming less "watery".
If you go so far as to cut in the amount of water it gets sort of "silky".
The downside is that the beans tend to precipitate so you have to "hunt" for them in order to get a balanced scoopful.
Sometimes I add a small bit of chopped onion with the garlic.
Occasionally I throw a raw egg in right after turning the gas off and mix for a sort of "eggrags" effect.