Pork Chop and Potato Soup with Mustard
A hearty one-pot soup where seared pork chops and onions build a savory base, and mustard stirred in at the end adds a gentle tang. Chunky potatoes make it filling without any cream.
- Total
- 45 min
- Prep 10 · Cook 35
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Searing · Simmering
- Savory
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Peel the oignons and cut into 1 cm dice. Scrub the pommes de terre and cut into 2 cm cubes, leaving the skins on. Pat the côtes de porc dry with paper towels and season both sides with half the salt and the black pepper.
~10 min
Dicing onions evenly and cubing potatoes uniformly ensures they cook at the same rate and release flavor evenly.
-
Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sear the côtes de porc for 3 minutes per side until deeply browned, then transfer to a plate. It will not be cooked through yet.
~6 min
Searing meat in a hot pan triggers Maillard browning, creating deep flavor compounds and a fond that will enrich the soup.
Sear the pork chops hard and fast to build a dark fond on the pot bottom; those browned bits are what give the water its depth, so scrape them up when the water goes in.
Searing Pat meat dry and use a shimmering-hot pan; don't move it until a deep brown crust forms, or it will stick and steam instead of brown.
-
Lower the heat to medium and add the oignons to the same pot with the browned bits. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent.
~6 min
Cooking onions in the pork fond dissolves the browned bits, incorporating their flavor while softening the onions.
-
Add the pommes de terre and 600 ml water to the pot. Scrape the bottom to lift the browned bits, bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a knife.
~15 min
Simmering potatoes uncovered allows them to cook through and slightly thicken the broth as surface starch releases.
Simmering Keep the liquid at a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil, so potatoes hold their shape and the broth stays clear rather than cloudy.
-
Slice the seared côtes de porc into 1 cm strips and return them to the pot with any resting juices. Simmer for 5 minutes until the pork reaches 63°C in the center. Stir in the moutarde and the remaining salt, then taste and adjust.
~5 min
Returning sliced pork to the simmering broth gently finishes cooking it to a safe 63°C without toughening the meat.
Simmering Keep the liquid at a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil, so potatoes hold their shape and the broth stays clear rather than cloudy.
-
Take the pot off the heat and let it stand for 3 minutes so the flavors settle. Ladle into a deep bowl, making sure each serving gets pork, potatoes and plenty of water.
~3 min