Black Fungus Meatball Soup (Bakso Jamur Kuping)

This meatball soup has a nice, crunchy texture and consists of ground pork (or chicken), fish paste, shrimp, diced carrots, glass noodles, and black fungus. Black fungus is also known as cloud ear, wood ear, or mouse ear because its shape resembles an ear...of course! :)

Makes 40-50 meatballs

1 lb. ground pork (or chicken)
1 lb. fish paste
1/2 C. chopped shrimp
1 carrot (finely diced)
2.5 oz. package dried black mushrooms
1 bunch dry glass noodles
2 eggs
2 T. corn starch
1 t. minced garlic
1 T. fried shallots
salt, to taste
white pepper, to taste

Soup Broth
12 C. water
1 t. minced garlic
2 diced shallots
2 T. margarine (Blueband or Wijsman)
1 chicken bouillon cube
salt, to taste
white pepper, to taste
4 large carrots (cut diagonally)

Cooking instruction:
1. Soak the dried black fungus in warm water for about 10-15 minutes to reconstitute them into their fresh form. Drain and squeeze as much water as possible out of the mushrooms. Cut into thin strips.

2. Immerse the dry glass noodles in hot water for a few minutes then cut them into 2" strands.

3. In a large bowl, mix ground pork, fish paste, diced carrots, mushrooms, glass noodles, eggs, corn starch, garlic, and fried shallots. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Take a spoonful of meatball mixture, roll it into a ball, and drop it into the boiling water. This gives a nice base flavor to the soup broth. Continue until you use up all of them. When the meatballs float to the top of the pot, it's a sign they're done.

5. In a small pan, melt margarine then add garlic, shallots, and chicken bouillon. Sautee for a couple of minutes then add the mixture to the the soup broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Add carrots.

6. Let the soup come to a boil for about 10 minutes until carrots are cooked.