Ingredients
1 Cup of Pearl Barley (pre-soaked in water for at least an hour)
2 Tbsp Minced Ginger
4 Cloves Garlic
3 -4 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Lt Miso Broth
1 Yellow Onion
6-8 Carrots
1 Heart of Celery
10 Mushrooms (can be a variety, I used white)
1 Bunch of Spinach
1 LB Ground Turkey
2 Tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
3 Green Onion Stalks (for topping)
Instructions
Makes Appx: 8 Servings
Total Cook & Prep Time 1.5 Hours
Place a large soup pot on the stove burner on low/med heat. Add 2 tbsp of sesame oil and allow to heat for 2-3 minutes.
While oil is heating, mince the garlic (and ginger if using fresh). Add all of the garlic and half of the ginger to the oil once minced.
Simmer the garlic and ginger in the oil for another 2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring occasionally.
While simmering, dice the white onion and add to the oil, garlic, and ginger (add another splash of oil here if necessary - the onions should be coated).
Dice celery and carrots, and add to the soup pot.
Stir all of the contents for 2 minutes, allowing the carrots and celery to become coated in the oil
Add the miso broth to the bot, cover, and bring to a boil.
While the soup is coming to a boil, set a large frying pan on a separate burner on low/med heat, add 1 tbsp sesame oil and rest of minced ginger - simmer until fragrant (appx 2 minutes, stirring occasionally).
Add fresh (unfrozen) ground turkey to the frying pan and increase to medium heat.
Add soya sauce to the turkey frying pan, using a spatula to break the meat a part and flip until cooked all the way through.
Check in on the soup pot, if boiling, reduce the heat to low, keep covered and allow to simmer.
Once the turkey is cooked add to the soup pot.
Add the cup of pearl barley and salt to the soup pot.
Stirring occasionally, allow the soup to simmer for 20-30 more minutes on low.
Near the end of the soup cook time (about 1 hour total), slice the mushrooms and add to the soup pot as well as the spinach (it will wilt down, so you can put in whole leaves).
Reduce the heat further and add lemon juice, stir to combine, and leave the lid off.
After 5 more minutes, turn off the burner, and allow the soup to cool for a few minutes before consuming.
Top your bowl with fresh ground pepper, salt, and diced green onions.
Note: I accidentally added 4 cups of pearl barley into my soup - which was extreme. After sitting over night in the fridge, the barley absorbed all of the broth and it turned into a kind of savoury porridge. I would heat up for lunch and top with green onions. One day I added a fried egg and some crunchy bacon on top - it gave me flashbacks to Thailand. So if you’re into that kind of thing you can amp up the amount of barley you add. It will be soupy on day one, but more porridge like after that.
