Soup is a versatile mainstay of Asian cuisine. In Southeast Asia, it is served with the meal to provide liquid, since meals are often served without drinks and tea is drunk only after the meal. It is sold from carts in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for breakfast, lunch, or between-meal snacks. In Japan, certain restaurants serve nothing else.
Soup can be a meal in a bowl, like the noodle soups in this chapter, or a little something to stimulate the appetite, like the miso or lemongrass soup. The soups in this chapter are mostly classics, each of which nicely represents the distinctive blend of flavors and ingredients in its national cuisine.
Miso soup is one of the basic parts of Japanese daily life. I’ve read that three-quarters of the Japanese population starts the day with this soup, and some people consume it as many as three times a day. During our time in Japan we enjoyed staying at traditional Japanese inns called ryokan, which serve a Japanese breakfast on a low table set on the tatami mats of your room after the futons have been folded up. A traditional breakfast usually consists of broiled, partially dried fish, rice, pickles, and nourishing miso soup. Serve miso soup before Japanese Yakisoba (page 96), or try it for breakfast with a bowl of rice on the side. Try substituting reconstituted, thinly sliced Chinese mushrooms for the wakame. You can also experiment with different types of miso (see page 17).
Serves 4
1 tablespoon dried wakame
4 cups dashi (see page 11)
¼ cup red miso
¼ pound silk tofu, drained and cut into ½-inch cubes
2 scallions, thinly sliced into rounds
1. Reconstitute the seaweed by letting it sit in a small bowl with a cup of water for 30 minutes. Drain it, squeeze in a paper towel, and discard any hard pieces.
2. Heat the dashi over medium heat and add the miso. Stir until the miso is dissolved. The trick with miso is not to let it boil. It shouldn’t really be cooked, just heated.
3. Add the tofu and wakame to the soup. Heat to a simmer and serve at once, garnished with the scallions. The soup should be very hot. Serve one ladleful to each person.
Pho (pronounced fuh) is one of the world’s most delicious soups; with a rich beef broth, rare steak, slithery rice noodles, and fresh herbs, the combination is perfect. Traditionally, the seasonings are individually added by the customer at the table. I served pho at my restaurant fully seasoned, with a sriracha chili sauce on the side for those who wanted more heat. A few Vietnam vets used to come especially for this soup and sit at the counter reminiscing about humid mornings in Saigon bent over a big bowl of pho. It is served throughout the day in Vietnam, especially at breakfast.
The beef must be thinly sliced, so that it cooks thoroughly in the hot broth. Place the beef in the freezer for an hour before you slice it. The all-important stock develops its intense flavor by long cooking; don’t cheat on cooking time. The stock can be made ahead.
This soup is wonderful with a first course of Fresh Spring Rolls (page 38).
Serves 4
SOUP STOCK
1 large onion, unpeeled
3-inch piece ginger
3 pounds beef bones
3 whole star anise
2-inch cinnamon stick
1 pound stewing beef, brisket, or oxtails
1/3 cup fish sauce
¼ cup Chinese black vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chili sauce
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound flank steak
10 ounces rice noodles, soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes
2 cups mixed cilantro, mint, and Thai basil leaves
1 cup bean sprouts
2 jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced into rings
1 lime, sliced into wedges
1. Roast the whole onion and the ginger right on the oven rack in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes.
2. Put 3½ quarts of water, the bones, spices, onion, ginger, and stewing meat in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Skim off any scum, lower the heat, and let cook at a medium simmer until reduced by one-third, about 3 hours. Strain the stock, reserving the stew meat.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Skim the fat from the soup stock and add the fish sauce, black vinegar, chili sauce, and pepper. Bring the stock back to a simmer in a medium saucepan.
4. Slice the flank steak against the grain as thinly as possible. Cut the reserved stew meat into small cubes.
5. Drain the soaked noodles; boil for 2 minutes, drain, and rinse with cool water. Turn the heat up to high under the stock and let it come to a boil.
6. Divide the noodles, cubed beef, and sliced raw steak among four bowls. Pour the boiling stock into each bowl and top with a handful of herbs, bean sprouts, chiles, and a lime wedge. Serve at once.
7. If you want to serve from a large tureen at the table, toss the raw steak into the boiling broth for 30 seconds and pour over the noodles and stew meat in the tureen. (You won’t be able to get the broth hot enough to cook the meat, otherwise.)
Called tom yum kung in Thailand or canh chua tom in Vietnam, this is the fiery, hot and sour soup of Southeast Asia. I have it in every Thai or Vietnamese restaurant I visit in hopes of re-creating the experience of one fragrant bowl I had on the Thai island of Phuket, sitting on the beach, watching the sunset as tears streamed down my cheeks. It was all very beautiful, but the tears were, in fact, from the chiles. Even so, I couldn’t stop eating that soup. I offer a lighter Vietnamese version without the Thai additions of chili paste or hard-to-get fresh galangal. This recipe is a simple, citrus-infused initiation into this classic soup. In Asia, the base is made from shrimp heads, which are rarely available here, so instead I use chicken stock flavored with shrimp shells. If you have dried lime leaves, this is a good use for them.
Serve this before Thai Beef Salad (page 118) or any grilled or roasted meat.
Serves 4
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on and shells reserved
4½ cups unsalted homemade chicken stock
3 lemongrass stalks
4 kaffir lime leaves, or 2 strips of lime zest, julienned
One 15-ounce can straw mushrooms, drained
1 small tomato, sliced into small wedges
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
½ serrano chile, or more to taste, thinly sliced into rings
Freshly ground black pepper
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
1. Put the shrimp shells and the chicken broth in a medium saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Strain the broth and put it back in the pan.
2. Use only the bottom 6 inches of the lemongrass; chop off the green tops and the bulbous ends. Cut the stalks into 2-inch lengths and bruise them with the side of a wide knife, so that they remain intact but are somewhat flattened and release their fragrance.
3. Add the lemongrass, lime leaves, straw mushrooms, and tomato to the stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Combine the fish sauce, lime juice, chile, and pepper in a small bowl and stir to mix. You can do this much up to an hour in advance; just turn the heat off and cover the pot on the stove.
5. Five minutes before you want to serve, heat the stock over medium-high heat; when it’s hot, add the shrimp. As soon as they become pink and curl, 30 seconds to a minute, they are done. Quickly add the fish sauce mixture and stir to mix. Pour into a tureen and garnish with the cilantro sprigs. Serve at once.
While living in Japan, my husband and I spent our weekends exploring the backstreets and little neighborhoods of Tokyo. We would get off the train at a new stop each week and continue on foot throughout the afternoon. We would always stop for lunch at little family-run noodle shops for a bowl of ramen, soba, or udon. Those are some of the most pleasant food memories of my life. Coming through the cloth noren in the doorway to terrific smells, a few tiny tables or stools, and the cries of “irashaimasen!” (“welcome”) was all very romantic.
Soup with soba noodles can be made quite simply at home. I make it with a traditional dashi and soy sauce broth, shiitake mushrooms, chicken breast, and spinach. I serve it for lunch if people are visiting for the day and I have a more elaborate dinner planned. It is also mild and soothing for someone who is feeling under the weather. And, of course, it’s low in calories and fat. I have made mirin an optional ingredient—it adds a slight sweetness to the broth.
I would serve this dish by itself.
Serves 4
8 dried Chinese mushrooms or fresh shiitakes
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine or sake
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into ¼-inch pieces
1 pound dried soba noodles
6 cups dashi (see page 11)
1/3 cup mirin (optional)
6 ounces spinach, cleaned and torn into small pieces
3 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes, drain, remove the hard stems, and slice the caps.
2. Combine the 2 tablespoons soy sauce with the ginger and rice wine in a medium bowl. Add the chicken to the bowl, coat well, and let marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the soba and rinse it with cold water.
4. Heat the dashi in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the ¼ cup soy sauce and the mirin if you are using it. Bring the broth to a simmer and add the chicken, spinach, and mushrooms. (If you are using fresh shiitakes, add them when you begin to heat the dashi.) Continue to cook until the chicken is white throughout and the spinach has wilted, 3 to 5 minutes.
5. You can serve this either in individual soup bowls or in a tureen. In either case, put the drained noodles in the bottom of the bowl and pour the hot soup over them. Garnish with the scallions and serve at once.
I’ve been making this soup for twenty years, but I tend to forget about it until sometime in October when it starts to get cool and I want something substantial but healthy. The soup is a good use for cellophane noodles, as it becomes almost stew-like when the noodles cook in the broth and expand. No other noodle will do this without becoming mushy or pasty. If you are not a red meat eater, substitute shrimp for the pork; just add them for the last two minutes of cooking time. If you cannot find dried shrimp, make the soup without them, but they do add depth to the broth.
Serves 4
2 tablespoons canola oil
10 ounces napa cabbage or bok choy, sliced into 2-inch square pieces
1 pound pork loin or pork chop meat, sliced into ½-inch pieces
1 heaping tablespoon dried shrimp or dried shrimp powder
2 quarts chicken stock
8 dried Chinese mushrooms
1½ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 ounces cellophane noodles, soaked in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes, drained and cut into 6-inch lengths with scissors
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 scallions, thinly sliced into rings
1.Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes, drain, remove the hard stems, and slice the caps. Soak the dried shrimp in a bowl of water for 15 minutes, drain and chop.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or chef’s pan over medium heat. Add the cabbage and stir-fry until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the pork and the dried shrimp and stir-fry until the pork changes color, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the chicken stock, mushrooms, salt, vinegar, and soy sauce to the pan. Bring to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes, and add the noodles. Bring the soup back to a simmer for 5 minutes longer while the noodles cook and become transparent. Add the sesame oil and stir to combine.
4. Pour the soup into a tureen and garnish with the scallions. Serve at once.
Some of the best street food in the world is served at the “hawker” stands in Singapore. At these open-air restaurants, where many vendors gather and serve their specialties, you sample a variety of dishes from the main cuisines of the island nation—Chinese, Indian, Nonya, Indonesian, and Malay—eat at communal tables, and watch the dishes stack up. I always wondered how each stand got all of its dishes and cutlery back, but somehow the system works. I remember one memorable meal that my husband and I and our little daughter had on a hot August night. It included, among other things, three different kinds of noodle soup: one rich with coconut milk, one piquant, and one called “seven-plus noodles.” We washed it all down with fresh starfruit juice and fresh green apple juice—it was heavenly. This soup is a Nonya dish. Nonyas are the Straits-born Malaysian wives of Straits Chinese men: the “marriage” makes for a wonderful cuisine, combining Chinese and Malaysian ingredients.
Serve this soup with a first course of Indonesian Gado Gado (page 50).
Serves 4
6 cups chicken stock
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 large garlic cloves, minced
2 scallions, chopped
8 ounces broccoli rabe, Chinese broccoli, or spinach, chopped into 2-inch pieces, bottom 2 inches of stem removed
½ teaspoon five-spice powder
10 ounces thin Chinese egg noodles
½ pound Chinese Roast Pork Tenderloin, thinly sliced (page 156)
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
1. Heat the chicken stock in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the shrimp shells and 1 cup water. Simmer the stock for 15 minutes and strain into a bowl.
2. In the same saucepan, heat the peanut and sesame oils over medium heat; add the ginger, garlic, and scallions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe and sauté until the greens are wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the stock, salt, and five-spice powder. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
3. Boil the egg noodles, loosening the bundles with tongs, until just done, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with warm water. Shake the colander well and put the noodles in the bottom of a soup tureen.
4. Add the roast pork and raw shrimp to the simmering broth and cook until the shrimp turn pink and curl, about a minute.
5. Pour the hot broth over the noodles, garnish with the cilantro sprigs, and serve at once. You could also garnish this dish with crispy fried garlic or crispy fried onions (see page 9).
This is the type of seafood soup I am always looking for at restaurants: one that is fresh, simple, and tastes of the sea. I often use an assortment of three kinds of shellfish such as lobster, scallops, and clams. Lobster shells flavor the broth, scallops provide meatiness, and clams give the soup the briny sea taste of their juices. You could substitute mussels for the clams or shrimp for the lobster. Always ask your fishmonger about freshness and delivery days and buy what is freshest.
The first time I made this soup, I added fish sauce before tasting the broth and it was too salty, so make sure you taste it after the clams have opened and judge the saltiness for yourself.
Accompany this soup with a large green salad.
Serves 4
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound frozen lobster tails, shells reserved, meat sliced into 2/3-inch-thick pieces
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
½ cup rice wine or sake
8 ounces rice noodles, soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes
½ can coconut milk (7 ounces)
3 dozen littleneck or mahogany clams, scrubbed and soaked in water for an hour, open shells discarded
½ pound sea scallops
1 tablespoon fish sauce, or more to taste
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or chef’s pan and add the lobster shells. Fry them until they are bright red and very fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and continue to sauté while stirring for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups water and the rice wine and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove the lobster shells and set aside for garnish.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, drain the rice noodles, and cook them for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Add the coconut milk to the broth while stirring. Once the broth begins to simmer, add the clams, cover the pan, and allow them to steam for 3 minutes. Lift the lid and add the scallops and lobster meat. Cover again and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Uncover and make sure that the clams are wide open and that the scallops and lobster meat are cooked through.
4. Taste for saltiness. If you need salt, add 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce, stir, and taste again. Add a second tablespoon if needed.
5. Put the noodles in the bottom of a large pasta bowl and pour in the steaming soup. Garnish with the cilantro sprigs and the bright red lobster shells and serve at once.