Ok, so I know this blog is not the most exciting blog in the world but I hope to keep up with it and eventually provide some good insights into soup making. This weekend, I made a noodle soup that I thought was pretty good and so did others in the household. It starts off similar to pho by using beef bones and onions. To get a good depth of flavor, the onions should be charred over flame but I usually just place it in the oven long enough to brown the bones or in this instance I just seared the bones and onions before pouring water over it. I also added about 1 pound of pork butt and salt, and half an hour before serving, I added about ½ – ¾ pound of ground pork.
Optional: any kind of Chinese vegetables such as bok choy, napa cabbage or Chinese watercress.
As with pho, the longer you can simmer the soup, the better it will be. This recipe is somewhat similar to pho except for the pork meat and ground pork and the spices used. The result is a lighter tasting broth because I only used cardamom, cloves and lemongrass. I would consider it a cross between pho and hu tieu so you can use rice noodles as I did but egg noodles would work fine as well.Not that I’m biased but I thought it was a pretty good tasting noodle soup. Something different. You can add whatever condiments you wish but I always like to load it up with whatever I can get my hands on Vietnamese coriander, thai basil, green onions, cilantro, etc.Remember to add the ground pork when the soup is almost done and break up the pieces as it’s cooking. I also added the fish sauce at this time and when the ground pork is done, you can more to taste. The soup should be a bit saltier than what you are used to since it will be eaten with the noodles which is bland tasting. And as with any recipe, tweak it to your liking.