Soup

Every other Friday, Erik and I make bouillabaisse. Though we are not Catholic, it is a nice food tradition and, so it seems, we often have the appropriate ingredients.

Tomorrow, I will post about how to make bouillabaisse. But everything good starts with a fine stock.

The key to good stock is to save everything. If you peel shrimp before you cook them, save the shells and tails. If you eat crab, save the shells. Save the tops of celery, the ends of onions, the tips of carrots, etc.,. There is a satisfaction and flexibility in having a freezer bag of potential stock.

Shells from two cooked Dungeness Crab (we have yet to try other crabs out)
Shells from 2# raw Shrimp.
One Chopped Onion
Celery Stalk chopped
Tomato paste 2 Tbsp.
Brandy 2 oz.
White Wine 2 oz.
Parsley Stems 8 each
Bay Leaves 2 each
Peppercorns (less than a dozen more than 5)
Paprika 1 tsp.
Cold Water

Heat oil in hot stock pot and sear shells until the shrimp shells are pink. Add tomato paste and cook a few minutes.

Deglaze pot with brandy and wine.

Add vegetables and seasonings.

Add cold Water to top of pile o’ stuff.

Simmer gently.

You’ll need 3-4 hours before you season and Drain.

Tomorrow: bouillabaisse

There are hazards to this soup:
It is an enthusiastically high fat dish
It will turn everything it touches temporarily yellow
It’s the Hugh Grant of noodle dishes — so charming that you don’t know you’ve been over-charmed until it’s too late

Here is how it should taste:
Sweet, spicy, salty, fresh, crunchy and slightly tart.

The method hang up with Kao Soi is if you put lime directly into the coconut milk. The milk sours a little and throws off a palate-smacking aftertaste.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp of red chili paste
half and inch of fresh, sliced ginger root the thickness of your thumb (measuring bores me)
1 tsp of coriander powder or toasted sees crushed up.
1 root of fresh tumeric (or 1 tbsp of tumeric powder)


Choose a protein and cook it. Slice it and set it aside.

1 can of coconut milk
two cups chicken broth
Pickled Chinese mustard greens
soy sauce to taste
Fish sauce to taste
Salt- a dash
Lime juice squeezed in near panic with your hands over a hot pot of popping spices
fresh egg noodles- that you are going to deep fry
A good hearty frying oil
1 green onion
Cilantro
Thai Basil

Bloom the spices in a hot pot. Add lime juice and mash the wet and dry together to make a paste.

Add chicken broth and stir.

If you add the coconut milk before you add the chicken broth you are in danger of curdling the milk (so I have often found). Add salt, a shake of soy and taste. The flavor should be just a little bitter and a touch smoky. You can add a touch of sugar at this point too. Shake in some fish sauce.

Add coconut milk, you don’t have to add the whole can, sometimes I leave a quarter out and make coconut rice the next morning (just to increase my risk of heart attack).

Fry up your egg noodles.

Place the Chinese Mustard Greens, protein and fried noodles into your soup bowls.

Pour soup over bowl.

Garnish with cilantro and Thai basil.