Pho - Vietnamese Noodle Soup

 So I'm trying to get in the summery mood.  Now there are vegetables planted in the garden which will hopefully be ready to turn into soup later in the year, and that fiery ball has returned to the skies, it's a bit easier to think that there might be a summer after all.  (Please don't remind me of this statement when it rains from now until September...)

I realised that pretty much all the soups I have blogged recently have been pretty heavy, comfort food type recipes. This is probably for two reasons - one is that it's been sooooo cooooold, and the second is that I think the big warm blanket of creamy warmth is the reason I love soup so much (Please note, don't try to make an actual blanket out of soup) but there are lots of other soups out there which are fresh and light and summery.

Like this one.  Pho is from Vietnam and I imagine it's the sort of thing that you can buy from vendors at the side of the road, like Blade Runner with sunshine (possibly) and it's a very light, fragrant soup that would work well as a starter or as a snack on a warm day...

Ingredients

For the broth
3 Carrots
1 Onion
1tbsp Ginger
1tbsp Soy Sauce
1tsp Coriander Seeds
4 Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Star Anise

Rice Noodles
Broccoli
Bok Choi
Fresh Coriander 
Lime

Method.
1.  Dry roast the coriander, star anise, cloves and cinnamon.  Place them in your soup pan over a low heat and cook until they start to release their aromas

2.  Roughly chop the carrot and onion.  Place them in a pan with the dry roasted spices, ginger, soy sauce and bay leaves, as well as 1.2l of water.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

3.  Remove from the heat and let cool.  Strain out all the bits and return to the pan

4.  Cook the rice noodles according to the packaging.

5.  Cut the broccoli into florets, slice the bok choi.  Steam them for 5 minutes, until they are soft

6.  Put some noodles in each soup bowl, then cover in the broth, and then top with the steamed vegetables and some fresh coriander and slices of fresh lime to garnish.  Enjoy!

Miso Soup With Prawn Wontons

We went to the local Chinese supermarket the other day and I have to admit, I was like a child in a sweet shop, especially when I got to the sweet section.  Although I really wanted to try some of the weird and wonderful esoteric ingredients, I feel that the world is not yet ready for my Duck's Tongue and Pig Intestine Soup.

But whilst we were stocking up on huge bottles of Soy Sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce and Shrimp Crackers, I also picked up the ingredients for a few other things, including Pot Stickers, and with the left over wonton wrappers I decided to make this tasty little number.  It also has quite a few other bits and pieces that  you might have to visit an Asian supermarket, but my advice would be to go for it, pick something up you've never tried before and go for it.

Duck's tongues, I have since found out, have bones in them. 

Ingredients
The Soup
25g Dashi Power
1.2l Water
3tbsp Miso Paste
1tbsp Mirin
1tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
6 Bok Choi
2 Cloves Garlic
75g Shiitake Mushrooms

The Wontons
20 Wonton Wrappers
75g Prawns
5 Water Chestnut
2tsp Sesame Oil
2tsp Dark Soy Sauce
1tsp Minced Ginger 

1. Peel the water chestnuts, then chop finely.  Do the same with the prawns, and then mix in a bowl with the rest of the wonton filling ingredients.

2. Put 1 tsp of the mixture in the middle of each wonton wrapper.  With a pastry brush, wet the edges of the wonton wrapper, then gather the edges up to make little parcels

3.  Put the water in a large pan with the Dashi, Miso paste, Mirin, Soy Sauce and minced garlic, then bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

4.  Chop the mushrooms and bok choi.  Add these to the soup.

5.  Put the wontons in the soup carefully and cook for a further 2 minutes and then serve.  Be careful not to burst the wontons putting the in or taking them out!  Enjoy