Normally Bon Appetit recipes have a list of really unusual ingredients, some of which cannot be found at your regular grocery store. While this was the case with this recipe, I was able to make reasonable substitutions and the final product was OH SO DELICIOUS. Seriously, this soup was SO GOOD.
First substitute was Sichuan peppercorns. Unfortunately Sichuan peppercorns have a very unique flavor that there really isn't a substitute for them. If you've never had them, they have a numbing effect. I ended up buying a medley of 4 types of peppercorn, but it definitely did not have the same effect (still delicious, though). The second substitute was wide rice noodles for udon noodles because that is all I found. I think you may have to go to an Asian supermarket to find wide rice noodles. I love udon so I didn't mind the substitution at all.
The recipe below is from Bon Appetit WITHOUT the substitutions I made. If you're lucky enough to find Sichuan peppercorns and wide rice noodles, then go ahead and use them. Otherwise, the substitutions I proposed will still create a DELICIOUS soup.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground pork
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbs vegetable oil
Salt and ground pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 bunch mustard greens, torn or chopped
4 scallions, sliced
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
8 oz wide rice noodles
Directions:
Combine pork, garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns (or peppercorn medley), crushed red pepper and cumin seeds in a bowl and mix with your hands. In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil, then scoop in the pork, breaking it down with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned, 6-8 minutes. Add chicken broth and let it come to a simmer. Meanwhile, cook rice noodles (or udon) in a separate pot according to package instructions. Drop the heat own to medium on the soup and add mustard greens (it will feel like you have a lot but they will wilt), scallions, soy sauce and fish sauce. Cook until mustard greens wilt, about 4-5 minutes. Drain noodles and divide among bowls. Ladle soup over noodles and enjoy!