Cambodian Pork and Vegetable Soup
Some Cambodian soups are built on bold, aromatic pastes. This one is not. It is a quiet, clear-broth soup made with pork, chayote, and carrot, seasoned just enough to let the ingredients taste like themselves. It is the kind of pot that simmers on a family stove when the day is ordinary and dinner needs to be simple, warm, and filling.
The broth stays light because the pork is gently simmered and skimmed, not boiled hard. Chayote adds a soft, mild sweetness, and sweet basil goes in at the very end so its fragrance stays fresh. Serve it with steamed rice, and you have a complete Cambodian home meal without a long list of ingredients.
What You Need
The ingredient list is short. Pork shoulder or butt gives the broth body without making it heavy. Chayote, also called vegetable pear or mirliton, is a mild green squash that softens in the broth and takes on the porky, savory notes around it. Carrot adds a gentle sweetness, and onion builds the base. Fish sauce does the heavy lifting for salt and umami, with a little sugar and black pepper rounding things out.
If you are watching the pork, pork shoulder is a relatively fatty cut, so the soup gets richness from the meat itself rather than added oil. The chayote brings very little to the calorie count but adds fiber and a soft texture that makes the soup feel more substantial than it looks.
Equipment
Soup pot: To simmer the pork, onion, carrot, and water until the meat becomes tender.
Chef’s knife: To cut the pork into chunks and chop the onion, carrot, and chayote.
Cutting board: To prepare the meat and vegetables safely and keep the work surface organized.
Vegetable peeler: To peel the carrot and remove the chayote skin before cutting.
Measuring cup: To measure the water for the broth.
Measuring spoons: To measure the fish sauce, sugar, and salt.
Wooden spoon or cooking spoon: To stir the soup and check the ingredients as they cook.
Ladle: To transfer the finished soup and broth into serving bowls.
How to Make Cambodian Pork and Vegetable Soup
Step 1: Start the pork and aromatics
Put the pork chunks, diced onion, carrot chunks, and water into a soup pot. Set the pot over medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer. Let the pork cook until it is tender, and skim off any foam or bubbles that rise to the surface as the broth heats. This is the simple step that keeps the final broth clear instead of cloudy.
Step 2: Add the chayote
Once the pork is tender, add the peeled, seeded, and chunked chayote. Continue simmering until the squash is soft enough to pierce easily with a spoon or knife. Chayote cooks fairly quickly, so stay nearby and check it rather than letting it turn mushy.
Step 3: Season the broth
Stir in the fish sauce, sugar, salt, and a dash of black pepper. Taste the broth and adjust gently. Fish sauce is salty, so add the salt carefully after the fish sauce has had a chance to dissolve. The soup should taste savory and clean, not sharply salty.
Step 4: Finish with sweet basil
Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped sweet basil leaves. Let them sit in the hot broth for a minute or two before serving. The basil is added last on purpose: heat releases its fragrance, but long cooking would dull it.
Cooking Tips
The tip supplied with this recipe is the most useful one for this soup: remove the bubbles that form on top of the broth while the pork is cooking. Those bubbles are coagulated protein and fat, and skimming them keeps the broth clear. Use a spoon or a small fine-mesh skimmer and work gently so you do not disturb the ingredients too much.
For food safety, pork should be cooked through before you serve it. The FDA recommends cooking pork roasts and chops to at least 145°F (63°C) with a three-minute rest, and ground pork to 160°F (71°C). For a soup like this, the pork is cut into chunks and simmered until tender, so a food thermometer is the safest way to confirm doneness.
If you enjoy the way sweet basil finishes a broth, our Oxtail Basil Stew uses the same last-minute herb approach in a deeper, slower-cooked dish.
How to Serve
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve it hot with steamed jasmine rice. In a Cambodian home meal, soup is not a starter; it is part of the main spread, served alongside rice and often one other dish. The rice absorbs the broth, and the soup adds moisture and flavor to every spoonful. For more context on how soup fits into Khmer family meals, see our guide to Cambodian soup family meals.
If you want another pork soup to compare textures and broths, our White Yam with Pork Soup is a gentle, starchy counterpart to this clearer vegetable soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a different vegetable instead of chayote?
Chayote is mild and soft, so it does not overpower the broth. If you cannot find it, other mild summer squash or gourd varieties will change the texture and flavor somewhat, but the recipe’s basic method remains the same. The supplied recipe is written specifically for chayote, so use it as the reference point.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool the soup and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator. Reheat it gently on the stovetop, bringing it to a simmer. The chayote will soften further after storage, so reheat only what you plan to eat.
Final Thoughts
This soup is not trying to be impressive. It is trying to be useful: a pot of clear, savory broth with tender pork and vegetables that comes together without a long ingredient list. The skimmed broth and the basil added at the end are small details, but they are the difference between a flat soup and one that tastes clean and finished. Serve it with rice, and it does exactly what a Cambodian home soup is supposed to do — fill the table without emptying the pantry.
Pork and Vegetable Soup
4
servings15
minutes45
minutes103
1
hourPork shoulder or butt simmers with onion and carrot until tender, then chayote is added and cooked until soft. Fish sauce, sugar, salt, and black pepper season the broth, and sweet basil is stirred in at the end. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Ingredients
1/2 lb (225 gram) of pork meat( shoulder or butt cut), cut chunks
1 yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and cut chunks
4 cups water
1 chayote squash, peeled, seeded and cut chunks
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
A dash of black pepper
A handful chopped sweet basil leaves
Directions
- Put meat, onion, carrot and water in a soup pot, and cook till meat tender.
- Add chayote squash and cook till the squash tender
- Seasoning with fish sauce, sugar, salt and black pepper.
- Top with sweet basil leaves.
- Serve hot with rice.
- TIP: For clear soup broth, removes any bubbles that form on top of soup stock while cooking.
Equipment
Large Soup PotCheck product details
Cutting boardCheck product details
Wooden SpoonCheck product details
Recipe Video
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 245 g
- Total number of serves: 4
- Calories: 103kcal
- Fat: 3.3g
- Saturated Fat: 1.2g
- Cholesterol: 34mg
- Sodium: 559mg
- Potassium: 336mg
- Carbohydrates: 6.7g
- Net Carbs: 5.2g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Sugar: 3.6g
- Protein: 11.5g
- Vitamin A: 128.8mcg
- Vitamin C: 5.6mg
- Calcium: 35mg
- Iron: 1mg
- Vitamin D: 0.3mcg
- Vitamin E: 0.3mg
- Vitamin K: 5.6mcg
- Thiamin: 0.4mg
- Riboflavin: 0.3mg
- Niacin: 2.9mg
- Vitamin B6: 0.4mg
- Vitamin B12: 0.5mcg
- Folate: 41.5mcg
- Pantothenic Acid: 1.1mg
- Phosphorus: 134mg
- Magnesium: 32mg
- Zinc: 2mg
- Selenium: 16.5mcg
- Copper: 0.2mg
- Manganese: 0.2mg
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