FoodieChat

It is SO cold lately, that all I want to eat every night coming home from work is a hot bowl of noodle soup.  Usually that’s noodles (udon, egg noodles, rice noodles), with veges of some sort, meat of some sort and some fish balls.  Tonight, I had some leftovers from a steamboat meal so my trick was to poach all the ingredients for just long enough to cook them without turning them into a soggy mess.  Two bowls of water going at once.  One for the fish ball squares – they need to be boiled for 10minutes.  And whilst that is going, poach the other ingredients in order of delicateness - golden mushrooms, shitaki mushrooms, then the tripe and finally the seafood ever so slightly.  Rinse the rice noodles under hot water (if you boil them they will be too soggy). And make the soup base: boil 2 cups of chicken stock, and add a slurp of soy sauce, a sprinkle of white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil and some chopped spring onions.  Place refreshed noodles in a bowl, and arrange all the ingredients nicely on top.  Pour on the hot soup and serve steaming hot.  No need for heaters and woolly socks, you will be warmed to the core In 15 minutes flat too

Winter means beef noodle soup time. It’s so warming, healthy and delicious – compared to its fatty friend, laksa.  And the bonus is that it’s cheap – well most of the time, but definitely here at Pho  Noodle House. $8.50 will get you a steaming bowl of chicken or beef noodle soup, with the appropriate mountain of dunk your own condiments – bean sprouts, vietnamese basil, chillis and lemon juice.  The chicken one had more than enough meat – silky noodles, with onion and shallots touching the already deeply satisfyingi soup.   I couldn’t resist trying the summer rolls – $6 for 3 and regretted not sharing them, they were so filling, with prawns, vermicelli, lettuce and pork.  The dipping sauce one of the best – perfectly balancing sweet and savoury elements, and topped with toasted peanuts.

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My friends Dean and Kym first made this for me.  This is pumpkin soup with a twist – add a tablespoon of red curry paste when you’re sauteeing the onions and garlic. And replace your milk/cream with coconut milk.  Serve with a dollop of coriander pesto.

Ingredients

• 1kg pumpkin
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 400ml can of coconut milk

Method

1. Chop up pumpkin (careful of fingers)
2. In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and sautee the onion and garlic for 1 minute. Add red curry paste and heat until fragrant
3. Add pumpkin, and then stock. Put lid on and simmer for 20 mins or until pumpkin is cooked.
4. Pour mixture into food processor and blend until smooth
5. Add coconut milk in a steady stream. Serves 6 as an entree or 3 as a main.