Pork

There are basically two kinds of pork soups: European long-simmered soups that usually contain large chunks of pork, cabbage, beans, root vegetables, and sometimes sausages and Asian soups featuring thinly sliced strips of pork that are sometimes marinated and then usually stir-fried with flavorful ingredients.

Most European-style pork soups are hearty farmhouse concoctions and can be full meals in themselves. For these long-simmered soups, pork shoulder is the best cut. A whole shoulder, which weighs about 5 pounds, can be hard to find on the spur of the moment, so unless the recipe calls for very large pieces of meat that are sliced after being cooked, it’s easier to buy pork shoulder chops and just cut off the bones. You can also use center-cut rib or loin chops, but because these contain less fat they tend to dry out during prolonged cooking. They are also more expensive than shoulder.