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The Definite Chinese Noodle Soup Almanac

Since forever, noodle soup in all its shapes, consistencies, spice levels and tastes have been my one recurring and favourite comfort food. 
Being a vegetarian, it's often not just as simple as going into a Phó or Chinese/Japanese noodle shop to indulge. More often than not I just do what I can in my kitchen...

I guess I wanted to put this post together so I can share some of my knowledge and experiences with my friends and anyone who cares about noodle soup.

What I refer to as chinese noodle soup, is some type of combination of broth, veggies  and noodles. Of course you can simply take your favourite instant ramen noodles and kick it in the pants with some of your own additions, but that is a whole different story.

Having said that, I thought I would just break down the basic recurring ingredients and some of the different types of noodles that can be eaten.

 Here are some examples of the soups I enjoy:

Shitake/Nappa Cabbage Noodle Soup

with chili bamboo

Hot and Sour Noodle Soup

Shitake/Gai-Lan Noodle Soup with Vegetarian Dumplings

with pickles radish and chili bamboo

Basic Ingredients:

• Dried Shitake Mushrooms (Doong Goo). These are easily found in most asian grocery stores and meanwhile you can buy them in your local western supermarkets. They usually come in plastic trays or bags and are fairly inexpensive. Try and buy the chinese ones as the ones you can buy at Wholefoods or places like that tend to be very few for a lot more money. To prepare simply soak in warm water for about 15 mins. Alternately you can simply break or cut the dry mushroom with scisors and boil with the broth. The water you soak the mushroom in can also be used as broth stock, so don't necesarily throw it out.

Shitake Mushrooms
'Doong Goo' in Cantonese

• Preserved (not pickled) Mustard Green (Tza Choi). This is a staple ingredient that looks odd and has a very distinct taste. It is used in many chinese recipes and personally I even like eating it on its own at times. This pickle is very salty and tangy and often constitutes the basis to the stock. Though you may find this in regular supermarkets, you are more likely to pick this up at the local asian food store. It comes in cans or in little air tight baggies. Also, it is usually sold as either a whole or shredded. Both can be used. This stuff will pretty much never go bad, so once you open the can, you can keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for a long time. To use, simply slice to desired size and boil in water as part of your broth.

Preserved Mustard Green - Tza Choi
Shredded Can and Baggie versions

• Soy Sauce. Not much to be said here, other than, as with olive oils, don't buy the cheapest crap. I stay away from the low sodium, low bla bla bla...people, we're not making health food here...Generally have a bottle of dark and light soy Sauce. Kikkoman is always a good bet.

• Sesame Oil. See above. Use as last ingredient immediately prior to serving to maintain as much frangrance as possible.

• Star of Anis. This is the spice that gives Phó it's distinct licorice flavour. I know that Viet cooking is totally beyond my authority, but for good measure I mention it as it is a great ingredient. As a matter of fact the mere idea of vegetarian Phó is probably Sakrilege, but I enjoy that style of noodle as well, so.... Make sure to remove these prior to serving.

Star of Anise

• Soup Stock. I use soup stock to add some additional flavour, though you may find this not to be necessary. I really only use 2 types of stock, both however do contain the fabled MSG, so if you don't like that. Leave it out and compensate with Salt and/or Soy Sauce or use an MSG free brand, there are many out there. My favourite 2 brands are Maggi Vegetable Stock (Cubes or Powder) and Vegeta (which is technically not soup stock, but a silver flavour bullet).

Vegeta- contains MSG

Maggi Veggie Brot - contains MSG

• Sesame Oil. See above on Soy Sauce.

Noodles

So here is the deal with noodles...there are sooooo many shapes and sizes and types, that it's really up to you what you like best. I tend towards a few basic types that I go back to regularly. Essentially there are no real no no's when it comes to choosing your noodle, but some simply taste better with certain soups than others.

For example, if you are making a thick broth like hot and sour soup, you would not use a rice noodle, just like making a Phó style soup using an Udon might be odd. I think you get the idea.

As a general rule of tumb, as with most noodle Recifes, don't wait too long to use the cooked noodles or they get mooshy and don't taste as good.

Having said that, here are my weapons of choice.

• Udon: This japanese noodle is thick and slippery. It usually comes frozen although you can also buy Udon noodles dry and boil them. To me the boil version does not taste as satisfying and therefore I recommend the frozen version. Note that these do not need to be boiled after thawing. Simply place the frozen noodle in your bowl and pour hot water over them until they are completely thawed. Strain them and just add soup over them. That's how they taste best!

Frozen Udon Noodles

• Ho-Faan / Rice Noodle: This noodle is extensively used in Viet, Chinese, Thai and other Asian dishes. It can be stir fried, boiled, eaten as a dry or wet noodle dish...it has countless applications. The noodle itself is relatively tasteless and therefore absorbs the flavour of whatever it is cooked in. You can buy 3 basic versions of this, vermicelli, thin (about 5mm) and thick (about 10mm). For noodle soup, I usually use the thick version. Simply open the packet, break off however much you need and boil until soft. A good hint is to shock the noodle with cold water after boiling to avoid excessive sticking.

Dried Ho-Fan Rice Noodle

• Other Rice/Flour Noodle: There are various types of dry noodles you can buy, ranging in thickness and length. In my opinion the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans make the best noodles. You can buy these in bags or as little bundles that are pre-portioned. I won't go into brand or type specifics as you can simply try different ones and find the ones you like. Of course you can also use egg based noodles, but as I am trying to go mainly vegan I stay clear of those. Any white straight noodle you can buy at the asian market will probably do the trick...but again, here the key is to try and find your fave!

     

 The Greens & other ingredients

When making chinese noodle soups, one of the key things is the stuff you add to the broth to make it nutritious and interesting. One of my favourite additions are green vegetables.

Here is a brief overview of a few of my favourite veggies and other ingredients to add to the soup.

• Nappa Cabbage: Nappa is a great vegetable to use in noodle soups because of its taste but also because of the binding quality it has. I find this cabbage really traps the flavours of the brooth and is easily picked up with chop sticks and a spoon.

• Green Onions: Green onions are almost as key an ingredient as soy sauce and preserved mustard greens. Used thinly sliced in rings about 1/8" thick, they are used in the broth cooking as well as the decoration process.

• Broccoli: Nothing new I can tell you here, other than use the stem thinly sliced as well and don;t cut the pieces too big.

• Spinach: A great tasting and healthy addition to a great noodle soup. My favourite is baby spinach, though you can use bunch spinach as well as the stems boil down nicely. As always make sure to thouroughly wash before cooking.

• Green Cabbage: The poor man's veggie, but I use it regularly. It tastes especially good with chinese shitake mushrooms. Slice very thin and boil longer than other veggies to tenderize.

• Water Cress: Watercress is used to make it's own glorious soup. This veggie is so amazing and so tasty that it deserves it's own blog entirely. When buying, make sure it's fresh and not mushy. Wash thouroughly before cooking. I don't use watercress for anything but watercress soup. I love it and so does my whole family!

• Gai Lan - Chinese Broccoli: This may be the nutritional grand master of soup ingredients. It's taste, healthy and crunchy. Among my favourite in noodle soups, this veggie may be a little hard to find in conventional supermarkets, but any asian market will carry it for sure! Generally I take off about an inch from the bottom of the stem and cut the bunch in half so it becomes bite size.

• Deep Fried Tofu: This tofu comes pre fried in different shapes and sizes. You can either refry and add to the soup or simply drop it in as is.

My favourite broth recipes

Hot & Sour Soup (Shuen Lat Tong).

• Green onion chopped (1/4 cup)
• Chinese dried shitake mushroom soaked and sliced thin (2 pcs)
• Dried string fungus (soaked) – can be bought in any Asian store
• Tsa Tsoi (preserved mustard green), sliced, about 1/8 cup
• Green/Yellow/Red pepper cubed, half a cup
• Silken Tofu cubed
• White pepper (black will do as well)
• Light Soy Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• ¼ cup of frozen peas
• 2-3 Tbspn of White vinegar
• Salt
• Cornstarch and water mixture to thicken
• 1 beaten egg
• Ground Cayenne Pepper Powder – about 1 teaspoon or as preferred

Boil water, add tsai tsoi, fungus and mushrooms.

Add peppers and peas

Add cayenne powder and soy sauce

Add pepper and vinegar

Boil for about 10 mins

Add chopped onion

Reduce heat a little and slowly pour the egg into the soup, count to 3 and then with chopsticks or a spoon slowly stir until the egg becomes stringy.

Add the sesame Oil

Serve

I always eat a huge bowl with noodles. The white Korean noodles are the best!

MORE RECIPES TO FOLLOW