Rice Noodle Soup With Ham And Lettuce Recipe Epicuriouscom Recipes

HANOI SPECIAL RICE NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Put the chicken pieces, salt, and the 4 quarts water into a stockpot (about 12-quart capacity) and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and then use a ladle or large, shallow spoon to skim off any scum that rises to the top. Add the onion and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove the breast from the pot and set aside in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to prevent it from drying out. Add the pork bones, squid, and fish sauce to the pot. Raise the heat to high to return to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer gently. Again, skim off any scum. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours.
• When the breast has finished soaking, drain the water and set the breast aside. Allow it to cool completely, then shred the meat with your fingers into fine pieces about 1/8 inch wide, pulling it along its natural grain and discarding the bones and skin. Put the chicken shreds in a small container, cover, and refrigerate.
• To rehydrate the dried shrimp, put them in a small saucepan with the 1 1/2 cups water, bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook for 10 minutes, or until slightly soft. Drain the shrimp into a sieve placed over a bowl. Add the cooking liquid to the simmering broth. Let the shrimp cool completely, then put it into a food processor or electric mini-chopper and process to grind to a fine texture. Transfer to a small container, cover, and refrigerate.
• When the broth is ready, use tongs to transfer the pork bones to a large bowl filled with cold water. Let them soak for 5 minutes to prevent them from drying out and turning dark. Drain the pork bones, let cool until they can be handled, and then remove the meat, discarding the bones and any odd bits. Use your fingers to break the meat into pea-sized pieces or tear it into fine shreds. Put in a small container, cover, and refrigerate.
• Position a fine-mesh sieve (or a coarse-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth) over a pot and gently ladle the broth into the sieve. Discard the solids, including the chicken parts. (Th is seems wasteful, but these parts are spent.) Use a ladle to skim as much fat from the top of the broth as you like. (To make this task easier, you can cool the broth, refrigerate overnight, lift off the solidified fat, and then reheat before continuing.) There should be about 3 quarts (12 cups) broth.
• Bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat while you are assembling the bowls. At the same time, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, for reheating the noodles. Make sure the chicken, shrimp, pork, egg, and sausage are at room temperature; ready the Vietnamese coriander and pepper for assembling the bowls; and put the shrimp sauce, preserved radish, and chiles on the table.
• Place a portion of the noodles on a large vertical-handle strainer (or mesh sieve) and dunk the noodles in the boiling water. After 5 to 10 seconds, pull the strainer from the water, letting the water drain back into the pot. Empty the noodles into a bowl and repeat with the remaining portions, while proceeding to assemble each bowl as the noodles are reheating and draining. Visually divide up each bowl into quadrants. Cover 1 quadrant with chicken, the next quadrant with egg, and the third one with sausage. If you have less shrimp and pork than the other ingredients, fill the remaining quadrant with half of each; if you have lots of pork, cover the quadrant with it, and put the shrimp in the center. Put some Vietnamese coriander in the middle, and then sprinkle with pepper.
• Raise the heat on the broth and bring to a rolling boil. Do a final taste test, adding more salt, if necessary. Ladle about 2 cups broth into each bowl, distributing the hot liquid evenly to warm all the ingredients. Serve immediately with the fine shrimp sauce, preserved radish, and chiles. Diners should stir in about 1/4 teaspoon shrimp sauce to finish their bowls. The radish and chiles add crunch and heat.

RICE NOODLE SOUP WITH HAM AND LETTUCE

Steps:

• Cover chicken with 12 cups water in a 6- to 8-quart pot.
• Cut off one third of ham (trim if necessary) and cut into 1/3-inch dice, then chill. Add remaining two thirds ham to pot.
• Trim scallions, then cut 1 scallion into thin slices and reserve. Cut remaining scallions crosswise into thirds and add to pot along with ginger, garlic, and cilantro stems.
• Cook chicken, uncovered, at a bare simmer 3 hours (do not let boil), skimming foam as necessary. (Do not stir, or stock will be cloudy.)
• Transfer chicken with tongs to a cutting board, reserving stock. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove breast meat and shred into 3-inch-long strips, discarding skin. Chill strips and reserve remaining chicken for another use. Pour stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discarding solids and skimming off fat (see cooks' note, below).
• Bring 6 cups stock with salt to a simmer.
• While stock is coming to a simmer, bring about 2 quarts water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan. Soak noodles in a bowl of very hot water until softened, about 10 minutes, then drain in a colander. Add noodles to boiling water and cook 1 minute, then add lettuce and cook 30 seconds. Drain in a colander.
• Using tongs, divide noodles and lettuce among 6 deep bowls, forming small nests, then top with shredded chicken and diced ham. Ladle 1 cup hot broth into each bowl and sprinkle with sliced scallion.

PROVENCAL TOMATO SOUP WITH RICE

Steps:

• Cut a shallow X in bottom of each tomato with a sharp paring knife. Blanch tomatoes in batches of 2 or 3 in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling water 10 seconds, transferring with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking.
• Peel tomatoes, then halve crosswise. Squeeze halves gently, cut sides down, over a sieve set over a bowl to extract seeds and juices, then press on seeds and discard them. Reserve juice and tomatoes.
• Cook onions, carrot, celery, garlic, zest, thyme, red-pepper flakes, fennel seeds, and bay leaf in oil in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes with reserved juice, tomato paste, water, chicken broth, salt, pepper, saffron, and 1 teaspoon sugar, then simmer, uncovered, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with a spoon occasionally, 20 minutes. Stir in rice and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, 10 to 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and stir in parsley, basil, and sugar and salt to taste.

HEARTY RICE NOODLE SOUP RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• In a 32-ounce (950 ml) wide-mouth mason jar, combine the vegetable stock, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, hearty spice blend, soy sauce, and noodles. Cover the mouth of the jar with plastic wrap. Microwave on high power for 5 minutes, until the noodles are tender.
• Peel carrot and zucchini into ribbons.
• Carefully remove the jar from the microwave and remove the plastic wrap. Add the zucchini, carrot, and tofu. Recover the jar with the plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften.
• Enjoy!