Delightful spring baby veg and nouple soup and small request
This is one of my favorite soups and I have been enjoying it thoroughly. I wanted to share it with everyone before the seasonal vegetables were out of season!
It is based on some soups I've eaten in Vietnamese restaurants, an old Jaimie Oliver recipe, a collection of Thai online recipes, various of my own mad kitchen experiments, and some inspiration from my garden and my mom's delightful gift of very large bowls for when my girlfriend visited for Christmas.
The basic soup is vegetarian and can be vegan as well as gluten free, assuming you use the right sort of rice noodles and appropriate broth. It takes very little time to make.
Basic Version
You will need (per serving):
A very large wide mouthed bowl, the kind that pho comes in
Seven or eight baby bok choy
A serving of wide dry rice noodles (such as the kind used in Pad See Ew)
3 cups of strong broth (I like Rapunzel vegan broth cubes or my own homemade stock)
Two quarter-size pieces of fresh ginger, finely chopped
Quite a lot of fresh basil of various kinds, including Thai Holy Basil, Pistou Basil, Italian sweet basil, random purple basil, etc, ideally one handful of mixed basil per serving
A bit of fresh mint
Two tablespoons of coarse raw sugar (turbanado sugar)
Several tablespoons of lime juice, fresh or bottled
Aleppo pepper flakes (they are not really hot and are very rich and full flavored, but feel free to sub in hotter pepper if you prefer)
Nasturtium flowers or violets
Soy sauce
In a small saucepan, heat the broth to a rich boil. Add the sugar, chopped ginger, and the rice noodles. Grind in some black pepper. By cooking the noodles in the broth, the starchy noodles will absorb the broth flavor and also thicken the broth slightly. This is all to the good. Because I like salt, I make my broth extra-rich and salty. If you need less salt, use no-salt or homemade broth, it will still be good!
While the noodles cook, pull open the baby bok choy so it's in individual leaves. Lay the leaves prettily in the bowl and sprinkle with lime juice, most of the basil, mint, and aleppo pepper.
When the noodles are quite soft and the broth is a bit thick, bring to a very hard boil and then pour the whole thing over the baby bok choy and greens in the bowl. Garnish with the last of the basil and the flowers. Serve with soy sauce, additional pepper, chili-garlic paste, chili-oil, extra lime wedges, etc.
Allow to sit for a minute or two before diving in. The broth will cook the baby bok choy and greens, but not so much that they get too cabbagey or mushy.
Variations:
1. Use pea shoots instead of baby bok choy. Really really good, but you pretty much have to have your own garden for this.
2. Instead of black pepper, grind in Schezwan pepper.
3. Add garlic and finely chopped fresh spring onions.
4. Garnish with chive flowers instead of violets.
5. Use green garlic, finely shredded beet greens, some sherry, and orzo, omitting the sugar, ginger, and lime. Garnish with olive oil.
6. Add marinated tofu, cooked chicken, slices of beef, or other protein of your choice.
Small request: My shiso has come up and is growing well. Does anyone have recommendations for a good recipe to try out shiso? I can't eat fish or seafood, but am otherwise open....
It is based on some soups I've eaten in Vietnamese restaurants, an old Jaimie Oliver recipe, a collection of Thai online recipes, various of my own mad kitchen experiments, and some inspiration from my garden and my mom's delightful gift of very large bowls for when my girlfriend visited for Christmas.
The basic soup is vegetarian and can be vegan as well as gluten free, assuming you use the right sort of rice noodles and appropriate broth. It takes very little time to make.
Basic Version
You will need (per serving):
A very large wide mouthed bowl, the kind that pho comes in
Seven or eight baby bok choy
A serving of wide dry rice noodles (such as the kind used in Pad See Ew)
3 cups of strong broth (I like Rapunzel vegan broth cubes or my own homemade stock)
Two quarter-size pieces of fresh ginger, finely chopped
Quite a lot of fresh basil of various kinds, including Thai Holy Basil, Pistou Basil, Italian sweet basil, random purple basil, etc, ideally one handful of mixed basil per serving
A bit of fresh mint
Two tablespoons of coarse raw sugar (turbanado sugar)
Several tablespoons of lime juice, fresh or bottled
Aleppo pepper flakes (they are not really hot and are very rich and full flavored, but feel free to sub in hotter pepper if you prefer)
Nasturtium flowers or violets
Soy sauce
In a small saucepan, heat the broth to a rich boil. Add the sugar, chopped ginger, and the rice noodles. Grind in some black pepper. By cooking the noodles in the broth, the starchy noodles will absorb the broth flavor and also thicken the broth slightly. This is all to the good. Because I like salt, I make my broth extra-rich and salty. If you need less salt, use no-salt or homemade broth, it will still be good!
While the noodles cook, pull open the baby bok choy so it's in individual leaves. Lay the leaves prettily in the bowl and sprinkle with lime juice, most of the basil, mint, and aleppo pepper.
When the noodles are quite soft and the broth is a bit thick, bring to a very hard boil and then pour the whole thing over the baby bok choy and greens in the bowl. Garnish with the last of the basil and the flowers. Serve with soy sauce, additional pepper, chili-garlic paste, chili-oil, extra lime wedges, etc.
Allow to sit for a minute or two before diving in. The broth will cook the baby bok choy and greens, but not so much that they get too cabbagey or mushy.
Variations:
1. Use pea shoots instead of baby bok choy. Really really good, but you pretty much have to have your own garden for this.
2. Instead of black pepper, grind in Schezwan pepper.
3. Add garlic and finely chopped fresh spring onions.
4. Garnish with chive flowers instead of violets.
5. Use green garlic, finely shredded beet greens, some sherry, and orzo, omitting the sugar, ginger, and lime. Garnish with olive oil.
6. Add marinated tofu, cooked chicken, slices of beef, or other protein of your choice.
Small request: My shiso has come up and is growing well. Does anyone have recommendations for a good recipe to try out shiso? I can't eat fish or seafood, but am otherwise open....