Culinary Impressions: Something cheap, something easy, something delicious... Asian broth with meatballs and winter greens.

I often flip through magazines in search of culinary inspiration or just a food that can be done in the blink of an eye. I noticed one interesting regularity - most recently in the British culinary magazines you can read more and more articles dedicated to 'Budget Meals'. In times of overwhelming economic crisis, culinary journalists are full of ideas for the cheapest and quickest dishes. The idea seems to be great, of course if we do not lose the quality of the ingredients. And in huge majority of cases the quality of recommended ingredients is very surprising. I must admit that many of these 'budget' ideas captivated us so much that we really want to share them with you... :) not even because of the price, which seems to be peanuts, but also in terms of diversity of ingredients and simplicity of preparation.

So, tonight we share with you an

Asian broth with meatballs and winter greens.

Serves 2/ Easy/ 30 minutes

250g lean pork mince

6 green onions (3 finely chopped, 3 sliced)

4cm piece fresh ginger (peeled, 1/2grated, 1/2 sliced)

2 red chillies (1 finely chopped, 1 cut into strips)

2 handfuls of bread crumbs

sesame oil

1l chicken/vegetable broth

2 star anise

soy sauce

100g Kale or other greens/cabbage

Mix the pork mince, finely chopped spring onion, grated ginger, finely chopped chillies and breadcrumps and 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil in a large bowl. Season really well then form into small balls. Brown all over in a non-stick frying pan.

Put a chicken stock, star anise, sliced ginger and a good splash of soya sauce in a large saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes and add the kale and meatballs, then simmer for 10 minutes. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil and the sliced spring onions and chilli. Serve in a large bowls.