Pork and Cabbage Soup

This soup is better than the sum of its parts. It shouldn't be good. It takes almost no effort and few ingredients and still makes a great light meal. We ate it for lunch a few days ago and for breakfast today. I serve it with rice if I want to make it thicker, but you could add egg too. You could garnish this with chopped cilantro to make it prettier if you like, but I am posting this in its simplest form because I love that all you need are meaty pork bones and some cabbage or spinach for this. The other benefit to this is that you can make it in a couple hours or over a couple days. 

Ingredients:
meaty pork bones
10-spice powder
1/2-1 napa cabbage, sliced thinly
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Put the bones in a pot and just barely cover them with filtered water. If you use too much water your soup won't taste like much. Bring it to a boil and skim off the scum that forms on top. Turn the heat down now and simmer it for an hour or two. 

If you don't need it right away, you can make this another way. Instead of simmering it right away, you can cover the pot, turn it off and forget about it. Bring it to a boil once every twelve hours three times. So if you start cooking this at night, let it sit with the lid on overnight. Bring it to a boil again the next morning, and then again when you get home that evening. It will be ready to use the next morning. Then you can either refrigerate it for a few days or use it right away. 

2. Once the water has cooled enough, take out the bones, remove the meat from them, chop the meat up, and return it to the broth. Add the napa cabbage (or spinach, or bok choy), some salt and pepper, and sprinkle in a little 10-Spice Powder. Bring it to a boil one last time to wilt the cabbage, and once it cools a little, taste it for salt and pepper.