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Asian style soup (my take on Pho) is certainly not Italian.Growing up in an Italian American house in the 1950’s Asian food was completely unknown. The closest association with foods from the orient was the TV commercial for Chun King Chow Mein, where we were invited to try something besides meatball and spaghetti.
I also remember seeing it in the A&P. The two part package intrigued me, but there was also something about those noodles and the shiny chopped vegetables that didn't seem quite right.I also remember the comic song in Roger and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song,” “Shop Suey.” As with so many of Hammerstein's lyrics, the song dealt with a new world that embraced all ethnic varieties.
One From Column A , One From Column B Chopsticks, c 1970
Much later, when I was in college, we discovered Chinese restaurants. The place of choice was “Chop Sticks,” "Chop Sticks" was on City Avenue in Philadelphia, on the corner of my college's campus. The restaurant was actually “underground.” While their sign was street level, you had to go down a full flight of stairs under the sidewalk to the restaurant.Those were the days when you selected “one from column A” and “one from column B.” Every dinner was prefaced by eggrolls and wanton soup. The entrées arrived under silver covers. (I wish Asian restaurants would restore that practice. The food tends to get cold very fast.) In those days, “sweet and sour chicken” was a most exotic dish. To order the Chinese pancakes with green onions and pork suggested a most sophisticated diner.
The decade of my college years also saw the Southeast Asian wars. One of the positive results of the wars was the arrival of many displaced Vietnamese and Cambodians in America. One of the great benefits is that along with families and children to contribute to the growth of this country, they brought a truly vibrant and exciting cuisine. In Philadelphia, a large contingent of Southeast Asians settled in the area around 9th and Washington, the same neighborhood that was home to the Italian immigrant, my ancestors, of the last century. Within a few years the newly arrived Southeast Asian people had established grocery stores and restaurants. The 19th century Italian American world was now complemented by a new generation from a new yet ancient world.
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At the same time, the Korean American community began to flourish. Unlike the Southeast Asian community from Viet Nam and Cambodia, who seemed to settle around the central metropolitan area, the Koreans seemed to invigorate areas on the limits of the city. In my estimation, one of the greatest culinary contributions from the Koreans is “H-Mart.” H-Mart is a spectacular grocery store that provides almost every Asian ingredient and condiment imaginable.Beyond that, every H-Mart has a cornucopia of fresh fish. H-Mart’s fish counter features everything from a simple mackerel to live abalone.
image from: http://www.frugalphillymom.com/local-review-h-mart-stores/
In addition to the fish variety, H-Mart offers any number of prepared kimchis, the quintessential Korean delight of spicy long cured cabbage or radish. If you are going to try an Asian style soup (my take on Pho), H-Mart is the place to start.While Korean kimchi may not be part of Vietnamese pho I see no reason why they cannot be aligned: what we now call “fusion.” Add a bit of the kimchi to the pho.
Along with Korean, Vietnamese restaurants are among my favorites. The dishes are rich with deep interesting flavors.The soups, the “pho,” are simultaneously rich, clean and complex. Philadelphia’s Washington Avenue restaurants and pho bars take the diner into that unknown world that opens to a new experience of taste and delight. I must say that one of my favorites is “Nam Phuong.” Nam Phuong
Judging from the number of Asian clients at Nam Phuong, I would guess that I am not too far from sampling something authentic. Of course, the wonders of refines Vietnamese cooking are not always easy to duplicate at home. But why should this stop us? When it comes to soups, even if they are not as refined and subtle as the original, a good soup can still be a comfort and a satisfaction. The recipe that follows is my take in a domestic way to reproduce an idea of what I have enjoyed on Washington Avenue.
My process for an Asian style soup may be a bit complicated in terms of the number of steps but it is actually very simple in the long run.You just need to take time with the meat boil, the noodle prep and the final mix it all together, |
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Equipment
Large soup pot Sharp knife |
Ingredients: Asian Style Soup (My take on Pho)
Beef bone with meat
Pork bone wih meat (note: any kind of beef or pork bone with beef or morrow.) The contents. - Variable. Green onions Mushrooms - any kind. Bok Choi or Cabbage- any kind Kimchi Tofu Noodles - any kind of Asian noodle from thin to thick.\ Dumplings: frozen: any kind. |
Chop vegetables
Slice down the green onions and the Bok Choi,
Dice the garlic. Slice mushrooms. Cover them and set aside. |
Meet boil
Set the meet to boil.
Traditional pho calls for only beef, but I have included pork. Boil for an hour. When the meat is soft, remove it from the bone as shown in the next image. Save the broth. It will become the foundation of the pho. |
The Bone Meat
When the meat has boiled for at least an hour and falls from the bone, remove the meat from the bone and chop with a knife or break with your fingers,
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Greens and the broth
Now add the greens that you have set aside to the meet broth.
Simmer until the greens wilt. |
Kimchi
Optional but necessary.
Add the Kimchi to the stock. |
Noodles
In another pot boil the noodles that you have chosen in water.
Most of them require no moe than a few minutes. |
Dumplings - optional
Dumplings are a great addition although they may not always be traditional.
Here, I am using frozen dumplings from H-Mart. I steam them and then add them to the finished soup. You can also add them to the soup boil but they risk falling apart. |
Tofu
Just before serving add the noodles to the bowl and dress with cubed tofu. .
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Meat and broth
Spoon the meat pieces and the broth over the noodles and tofu.
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Dumplings
Add the dumplings to the top of the soup bowl.
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Granish with mint, Thai basil and serve
Asian Style Soup (My Take on Pho)