Bacon & Egg Purse Soup: Crepe-Wrapped Bacon Meatballs in a Star Anise and Ginger-Scented Broth

When the creative and talented Natasha of 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures invited me to join the 5 Star Makeover cooking group she and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! were forming, I was totally on board.  I love to put my thinking cap on in the kitchen, after all, and the group's first directive - come up with a gourmet interpretation of the classic bacon and eggs combo - is both playful and challenging. Good stuff!

For my dish, I drew inspiration from one of the best meals I've ever had - the Chinese feast at Grace Garden, which I wrote about earlier this month. In particular, I wanted to pay homage to the Phoenix Purses:

Now, in this dish, the broth was the star, while the purses - egg white crepes wrapped around lightly seasoned ground meat - were the supporting players. I wanted to reverse this dynamic, so for the crepe I used both the yolk and the white to create a paper-thin wrapper that packed an egg-y punch, into which I tucked meatballs made out of a combination of bacon and ground pork:

The result? Little bites of pure bacon-and-egg-goodness ...

... which then nestle in a subtly-scented chicken broth, garnised with leek, scallion, and extra bits of the egg crepe:

For the crepes, I worked in batches, and just kept making them until I had as many as I wanted - I stopped at eight. Each egg will make about one crepe,  depending on the size of your crepe pan. Here's what you do: Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 tsp of water, and strain through a seive. Heat a crepe pan (mine was 9.5 inches) on medium heat, and then turn it down to low. Wipe a thin layer of oil over the pan and swirl 1/3 of the egg mixture over the surface. When the egg starts to dry out on the edges, carefully peel it up, using both hands,  and turn it over for just a second or two. Remove to a plate and repeat, wiping the pan between crepes. You can stack the crepes, they won't stick together.

For the meatballs, I used Michael Ruhlman's proportions from his book Ratio as a rough guide: 1 part fat to 3 parts meat, and 1.5 tsp of salt for every pound of meat.  Using my eyeballs as an unscientific fat content measuring device, this translated to roughly 1/4 pound of chopped bacon to 1 pound of ground pork, and 2 tsp salt. I also added a few grinds of black pepper,  1 small finely chopped onion, and 5 cloves of minced garlic.  I formed the mixture into 1 inch balls, and seared them in a skillet on all sides over medium high heat in 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 tbsp peanut oil. Once seared, I added a cup of water and covered the pan, allowing them to steam for about 10-12 minutes. (You will likely need to use two pans for this, or work in 2 batches.) I had extra meatballs which made for a very tasty sandwich the next day!

To make ties for your purses, cut very thin strips of leek (the green part) and blanch for 10 seconds, and immediately remove to an ice bath.

For the broth, for every 4 cups of chicken broth add 4 whole star anise, one leek, a large knob of peeled ginger, and a healthy pinch of white pepper. Heat on low, allowing the broth to become infused with the aromatics. When finished, strain and salt to taste. Add the purses to the soup with the broth is still piping hot, and garnish with leek, scallion, and leftover strips of egg crepe.

Natasha and Lazaro will be posting a round up of all the creative bacon and egg dishes on their blogs on Friday, February 25 - you can follow the links in the graphic below, and make sure to check them out!

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!