(Edited to include a photo of the Beef Pho we just finished eating tonight).
In Asian cultures, many people eat soup on a daily basis. And not just for dinner; soup, especially noodle soup, is commonly eaten for breakfast, or later in the day as a snack.
Even in North America, the popularity of noodle soups is obvious just by seeing the number of restaurants, or noodle houses, that specialize in these items.
Below the fold, we will start to explore more about noodle soups, and how you can prepare some delicious varieties at home.
Noodles can be deep-fried, stir-fried, boiled, and on and on. There are endless varieties of the noodles themselves, as well as ways to cook and serve them. Today, we focus on noodle soups. That is, some sort of broth as a base, into which you put boiled noodles, along with various meats, vegetables, and other condiments.
There are rice noodles, wheat noodles, egg noodles, mung bean starch noodles, thin noodles, thick noodles, flat noodles, fresh noodles, dried noodles ... almost no limits.
The noodles made from wheat flour are often comparable to pastas from other cooking cultures. These can be white or brownish depending on the flour used. If eggs (or more particularly egg yolks) are added, the noodles take on a pale yellow color. These are particularly good when purchased fresh. They can also be made at home, and I often do, though for today we will stick with store-bought noodles.
Rice noodles are, as the name implies, made from rice flour. It's not at all practical to make them at home, and so they are always purchased. Very fresh rice noodles, widely available in Asian countries, are chewy and delicious. But what you will find in the stores here in North America are not often very fresh right from the manufacturer; as a result, they tend to be very hard and dense by the time you get them home. They loosen up when soaked in hot water and can then be separated. But all in all, if using rice noodles, it is better to buy the dried packaged ones.
Now, for something to put the noodles in. The basis of any good soup is broth. Again there are endless varieties. For now, we will concentrate on beef broth, and chicken broth. You can find recipes for these in almost any given cookbook. And of course you can buy them ready made. But you didn't read this far to just be told to go to the supermarket, buy some canned stuff, and reheat it in a pot. On to the good stuff.
Home-made Beef Broth
I've been making my beef broth based on a recipe in the book Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, by Andrea Nguyen. Having made quite a few batches myself, I've tinkered with the ingredients and procedure a bit over time. So here we go:
Beef Broth
5 pounds beef bones
1 1/2 pounds beef chuck
1 large yellow onion
4-inch chunk of fresh ginger
8 whole cloves
6 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, about 4 inches
2 teaspoons table salt (*)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 ounce piece of rock sugar
- Place the beef bones on a large baking sheet, or half sheet pan. Peel the onion and quarter it. Peel the ginger, and halve it lengthwise. Place the onion and ginger on the sheet pan with the bones. Roast in a pre-heated 400F oven for about 15 minutes.
- Prepare the beef chuck by cutting it into chunks roughly 2" x 2" x 1".
- Meanwhile, fill a 6 or 7-quart stock pot about 3/4 full with water, and bring to a boil.
- Put the roasted beef bones into the boiling water (reserve the onion and ginger until later). Bring back to a full boil, and continue to boil for 2 or 3 minutes. Drain and discard the water. Rinse the bones under hot tap water briefly to remove any impurities.
- Rinse out the stock pot, return the bones to it, and fill with water to cover the bones, about 6 quarts. Over high heat, bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.
- Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes, frequently skimming off and discarding any foam and debris that accumulates.
- Add the remaining ingredients: roasted onion and ginger, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, salt, fish sauce, rock sugar, and beef chuck. Simmer for 2 hours, uncovered. Occasionally, with tongs, move the bones and beef pieces about. This allows any trapped scum to rise to the surface; skim if necessary.
- Remove the beef chuck pieces into a separate container, allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate. Continue to simmer the remaining ingredients for another 2 hours.
- Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. This is now your beef broth. Discard all solids, though you may optionally pick and reserve any bits of meat or tendon still stuck to the bones. You can also skim the fat from the top of the broth.
(*) You may find that the broth needs more salt. Adjust this at the very end if desired.
So yes, that's a lot of time and fuss and bother. But the results are very much worth it. You end up with a broth that is beefy, but has distinctively Asian flavors.
Beef bones are available in Asian markets, typically cut into 2 or 3 inch segments, and often frozen. You buy them by the pound or in some cases by the bag. A mixture of leg bones and neck bones makes a good broth; leg bones have bone marrow that dissolves over time, for great flavor and gelatin.
The roasting phase serves a couple of purposes. First, roasting meat and bones brings out flavor. But also, it brings the temperature up so that putting the bones into boiling water won't make for a very long "recovery" time to get back to boiling. The objective is to boil briefly to remove impurities that would cloud the finished product; not to boil and discard a lot of flavor.
Depending on the fat content of the beef chuck, you may end up with a lot of fat on the surface of the broth. It is easier to remove if you refrigerate the broth overnight, when the fat will solidify and then you can just lift it off.
I deliberately go "low salt" when making broth. Always taste as you go along, and adjustments can be made. You can always add more salt later, but you can't take it out once it's in there if you overdo it early on.
This recipe makes about 4 quarts, or 16 cups.
Home-made Chicken Broth
The chicken broth that I make is less "Asian" than the beef broth above. The ingredients are somewhat more generic.
Chicken Broth
4 pounds chicken bones
1 pound pork butt
1 large yellow onion
1 large carrot
- Rinse the bones, and put into a 6 or 7-quart stock pot. Add cold water to cover the bones. Peel and quarter the onion. Peel and roughly chop the carrot. Add the onion and carrot to the pot.
- Roughly cut the pork butt into about 2-inch chunks, and add to the pot.
- Over high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. For about 10 minutes, watch closely and skim off any scum and debris that rises to the top.
- Continue to simmer for at least 2, and up to 4, hours. The longer time is preferred.
- Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. This is now your chicken broth. Discard all solids. You can also skim the fat from the top of the broth.
As you can see, the chicken broth requires fewer steps, and less attention, than the beef broth. But the broth is still far better than any of the canned or tetra-pak stuff you can buy.
Beef Pho
You are going to be tempted to pronounce this as it appears "pho", but the more correct pronunciation is more like a cross between "pha" and "phe". Never mind all that; it just tastes good.
Beef Pho (2 servings)
4 cups beef broth
8 ounces dried rice noodles
8 ounces thinly sliced beef chuck
3 cups bean sprouts
2 quarter segments of fresh lime
2 branches of Thai basil
4 Thai chilies
- Over high heat, bring the beef broth to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
- Follow package directions for cooking rice noodles; generally this requires boiling for a few minutes.
- Drain noodles, and divide into 2 serving bowls. Divide the thin-sliced beef among the bowls, and pour the hot broth over.
- At the table, each diner adds to taste the bean sprouts, Thai basil, squeezed lime juice, and chilies.
The soup comes together pretty quickly. This is a pretty good sized serving. Additional hot chili sauce to taste is usually served in tiny 1-ounce dishes along side each serving.
Above: Beef Pho at the table, just before the table-side condiments are added. On the right, a spoonful of our home-made chili sauce in the small dish. In the main dish, the rice noodles are buried underneath the beef and broth. Sprinkled on top is chopped green onion and cilantro.
Spicy Beef Noodle Soup -Niu Rou Mian
I first had this dish at a restaurant named Ding Tai Fung in Markham, a suburb on the north side of Toronto that has a large Chinese community. The dish originates in Taiwan, though there are many variations. Here is mine:
Spicy Beef Noodle Soup - Niu Rou Mian (2 servings)
4 cups beef broth
reserved beef chuck from broth recipe
8 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
6 Thai chilies
2 tablespoons hot chili sauce
8 ounces wheat noodles
3 small bok choi or other Chinese vegetables
- In a medium size pot, bring the beef broth to a boil then reduce to simmer.
- Wrap and tie the garlic, Thai chilies, and Sichuan peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth. Add the bundle, hot chili sauce, and reserved beef chuck to the broth. Simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove and discard the cheesecloth bundle.
- In a separate pot, bring about 3/4 pot of water to a boil. Blanch the vegetables for about 1 minute, then remove them from the water and set aside. Blanch the noodles in the same boiling water for about one minute.
- Drain the noodles, and divide among 2 serving bowls. Divide the blanched vegetables among the bowls, then ladle the broth and beef chuck over top. Serve immediately.
And finally, something for the chicken stock. A little less elaborate, but always makes a good fast weekday meal.
Won Ton Noodle Soup - Won Ton Mein
Here we are going to use store-bought won ton dumplings. I sometimes make these from scratch, but always keep some manufactured ones in the freezer for a quick meal.
Won Ton Noodle Soup - Won Ton Mein (2 servings)
4 cups chicken broth
1 dozen frozen won tons
1 package thin fresh wheat noodles
- Over high heat, bring the chicken broth to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
Add the frozen won tons, and cook gently for a few minutes according to package directions. Generally, when they float freely, the won tons are cooked through.
- In a separate pot, boil about 3/4 pot of water. Cook noodles according to package directions.
- Drain noodles and divide among 2 serving bowls. Divide the broth and won tons among the bowls. Serve with optional hot chili sauce on the side, to taste.
Anybody hungry?