Tuesday 26 August 2008

The Big Soup


Every now and then I crave for a big bowl of noodle soup. Sometimes I'm lazy and reach for a packet of instant noodles - Maggie Mee preferably or if I'm really hungry, one of those huge packets of Korean noodles. But then there are times when I feel like putting more love and care into the cooking pot.

The shop bought wanton skins were filled with minced pork that had ginger, garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce and a touch of sesame oil mixed in. The fish cakes were shop bought from Chinatown and came in a squidgy fish paste block for shape-your-own fishcakes. I get really excited whenever I see these - I like most things processed :) but these were slightly disappointing. A tad too bouncy for my liking (I like the harder, chewier version) and really over-salted, though I happily ate my way through the whole packet. Perhaps one day when I'm really feeling the love and devotion toward the cooking pot, I'll make my own fish paste.

Putting it all together
  • Cook some noodles (your choice) according to the directions on the packet. Drizzle with a little oil so that the noodles don't stick together. Set aside.
  • Bring to boil a nice potful (half a potful, quarter of a potful.... whichever takes your fancy) of stock up to the bowl. I had a bag of home-made chicken stock sitting in the back of my freezer so I used that.
  • Drop in the wantons (they freeze rather well and can be dumped into a pot straight out of the freezer-they only need a few extra minutes). Let the stock come back to a boil. Put in the vegetables, harder bits of stalks first and softer bits of leaves last. Be careful not to prod the wantons too hard, the skins are delicate after cooking.
  • When the wantons float to the top and their skins start to get wrinkly, it means that they are cooked. I usually give them a minute or two extra to make sure :)
  • Spoon in the fish paste into the stock. It's the easiest way without getting your hands messy. *tip* Wet your spoon after dropping every spoonful of fish paste into the pot. This ensures that the sticky mixture slides neatly into the soup and not stick stubbornly to the spoon. The fish paste only takes a minute to cook.
  • Get some big bowls ready. Divide the noodles into the bowls. Dish out the goodies from pot. Sprinkle on some fried shallots or garlic if you like. Slurp away! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This soup looks great - I too bought some wonton wrappers this weekend but they were much too thick. I'll get some thinner ones and then make something similar!

Luscious Temptations said...

I once made the mistake of getting the thicker ones too. Such a disappointment as they're way..too thick! I went to three different supermarkets in Chinatown looking for the thin ones this time .. it paid off though. I was a happy bunny with my soup.