Shrimp Tom Yum Soup with Noodles (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวต้มยำกุ้ง)

Tom Yum soup can be both clear broth or broth with coconut milk (Tom Yum Nam Kon) or another milk product such as whole milk, or half & half. In Thailand most people use evaporated milk because it is easier to find, is lower priced, and has a longer shelf life. The caveat is to never ever use any kind of low fat or fat free fresh milk.

But anyways, anytime I eat Tom Yum with any milk product my stomach will feel terrible for the rest of the night.  My mom said Thais did not really use any milk products until foreigners came but no one knows how Tom Yum with milk was first developed.   But if you ever like to change up your appetite to the milky broth, you will need to omit 1/2 cup water and replace with Half & Half.

Another thing that is important to note is that this recipe should really only use less sodium chicken broth.  If you don't feel like noodles, Thai Jasmine Rice or Brown Rice can be the accompaniment instead.  And please, DO NOT use pre-cooked shrimp.

- Daisy

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If you have never had Tom Yum with milk before, I highly encourage you to try it.  In most Thai restaurants outside of Thailand, this version will be a bit harder to come by so making it yourself is the best alternative.  It might sound weird to add dairy to a sour-ish soup but trust me it works.  I actually prefer Tom Yum Nam Kon to the regular version but I would recommend using coconut milk instead of milk since that is how Thais do it in Thailand.  And it just tastes better. 

This recipe looks a bit scary with having the char the spices and herbs but trust me it's not that complicated and tastes just delicious.

- Darin

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 Shrimp Tom Yum Soup with Noodles
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวต้มยำกุ้ง

Serves 1

65 g. Dried Thai Rice Noodle, soaked in warm water no more than 20 minutes
1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 cup Water
1/4-3/4 cup Mushrooms (a combination of white button mushrooms and oyster mushrooms is best)
4 slices Fresh Galangal, lightly bruised (just pound it with something to get its juices flowing)
4 Dried Red Chili
2 cloves Garlic (leave whole, please!)
4 Shallots (leave whole as well, please!)
1 stalk Lemongrass (cut off the dried tip, then cut into 5 diagonal slices, lightly bruised)
3-4 Fresh Kaffir Lime Leaves, torn in half
1 Lime, cut in wedges
1 tsp Palm Sugar (substitute regular sugar)
1-2 Fresh Bird Eye Chili, cut in half
Cilantro for garnish

1) Put the galangal, dried chili, garlic and shallots in aluminum foil and fold into a pouch.  Place the pouch directly on the stove on low heat.  Keep flipping the foil every minute as to not let the contents burn, approximately five minutes.

 2) Using a wide sauté pan, simmer both the chicken broth and water until a soft boil.  Add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal. Let it simmer until a soft boil again.

3) Add mushroom and chili paste into the broth and then the shrimp, making sure the shrimp is spread apart and not on top of another.  Follow with palm sugar, fish sauce, garlic, shallots, dried chili.  Let the flavors meld.

4) Blanch the soaked noodles for a minute and quickly drain the noodles and put in a bowl.

5) Discard the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal from the soup.  Pour the hot soup onto the noodles and serve.

Chinese Style Fried Pork Noodle Soup

Mom made this for me last week.  My comfort food fortification before the storm of finals hit.  Thank you, Mom, you're the best.  

- Darin

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Chinese Style Fried Pork Noodle Soup

4 Servings

Chinese Style Pork Chop Marinade:
2 Pieces Center Cut Pork Chop, Bone-in approximately 0.5" thick
1 tsp. Shaoxing Wine
1 1/2 tbsp. Chinese Soy Sauce
1tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Rice Vinegar
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp. Sesame Oil
3 Cloves Garlic, minced

1) Wash and dry the pork chop well with a paper towel.  Using the back of the clever or a meat tenderizer, pound the meat to thin and flatten it out.

2) In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients together then add it into a ziplock bag along with both pork chops, making sure to rub both sides of pork chops well.  Let the pork chops rest for an least 1 hour, preferably overnight.

Frying Pork Chop:
1 Egg Yolk, beaten
¼ cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1) Get a dredging station ready and be sure to use big enough plates as the pork chops should be fully coated by both the egg yolk and the cornstarch.  Shake off the excess marinade and dip the pork chops into into egg yolk then the cornstarch, shaking off the excess.

2) Heat up the frying pan on medium heat with the vegetable oil.  You can tell the pan is ready when you start seeing small wavy lines in the pan.  Carefully place the pork chop in the pan. Do not overcrowd the pan, so unless you have a big enough pan to fit both chops at the same time, you can do it one by one.  The pork chops should take around 3 minutes per side and DO NOT peek or move it around or you won't get a nice crust.  Just time it, then flip it to the other side.

3) While the chops are frying, prepare a cookie sheet with a rack on top to let the excess oil drip off.  After the pork chops are finished frying, rest the pork chops for 3-4 minutes on the rack before slicing.

Chinese Pickled Mustard Green Topping:
1tbsp. Garlic, minced (about 2-3 cloves)
1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1/4 Package Pickled Mustard Green “Lotus” Brand, very finely chopped
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 tsp. Sugar
¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper
¼ tsp. Sesame Oil

1)  Saute the garlic in the vegetable oil.  Once the garlic has softened, but not browned, stir in the pickled mustard and the rest of the seasonings. Stir until combined and set aside.

Soup:
6-8 cups of hot chicken broth, low or no sodium and preferably homemade, split between 4 bowls with the following in EACH bowl:
1 tsp. Soy Sauce
¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper
¼ tsp. Sesame Oil
1/8 tsp. Salt
Chopped scallion

Noodle:
As for noodle, there are a number of choices but our family prefers the “Chinese Style” flat white (no egg) noodle.  Prepare the noodle per the package instructions.

Now the assembly time…..
After adding the the soup seasoning in the bowl followed by piping hot soup, carefully add the noodles and half of the pickled mustard.  Top with the sliced pork chop and chopped scallion.  You can also put the pork chop on a separate plate if you are afraid of it getting soggy.

Enjoy!

Tom Kha Gai (ต้มข่าไก่)/ Chicken Galangal Soup

Tom Kha Gai (ต้มข่าไก่) is a misunderstood Thai dish that needs some clarification. It is an entree that is normally consumed with rice. It is NOT an appetizer or a soup before meal. This is why this dish is a complete healthy meal on its own.  It combines every flavor in each mouthful.  All the delicious tastes you can ever have.

Tom Kha Gai (ต้มข่าไก่) or Chicken Galangal Soup 

This is another entree that is traditionally homemade and in the olden days, the chicken used were usually from their own backyard.  And it would small, thus, they would use the whole chicken including neck and feet.  [Note from Darin: Ew.]  My mom told me Tom Kha Gai should only be made with bone-in chicken and so is the reason why my recipe does not use chicken broth or chicken bouillon cube like some other recipes.  Unfortunately, either for convenience or health reasons, now most people use boneless chicken and deal with the loss of flavor with chicken broth or bouillon cubes.  This is completely up to you but if you want truly flavorful, authentic Tom Kha Gai, you just have to go with bone-in chicken. 

I also grill my shallots and chilies for this recipe.  This is a tip from my mom and doing so makes the shallots and chilies even more fragrant and pungent instead of just boiling it.  Also, I would like to talk about coconut milk again.   Especially for Tom Kha Gai, please do not substitute coconut milk with any  other low fat or fat free versions.  And I really recommend everyone try to use ingredients from the same country of your cuisine.  This recipe's focus is on the sweetness from the chicken bone and the creaminess of the coconut, so that is why I insist on bone-in chicken and good coconut milk.

As for the mushroom, please only use either straw, oyster or white button mushrooms.  All these mushrooms have a milder flavor and won't  overpower the rest of the dish.  Very important.  [Note from Darin: I would recommend straw mushrooms.  It is what is traditionally used and is much more tasty and exotic than regular white button mushrooms.  You probably use white button a lot so why not switch it up?  You can find canned straw mushrooms in most supermarkets and specialty Asian markets.]

This recipe calls for Galangal, which is not regular ginger.  Although it is in the same ginger root family, the smell and flavor would be different if you substitute galangal with ginger so please try to find galangal if you can find it.  Most specialty Asian markets will stock them, usually in the refrigerators.

This recipe also comes together quite fast so when you start on the soup, also start to cook your Thai jasmine rice as well.   Why does it have to be Thai jasmine rice?  Short grain (sushi/Japanese/Korean) rice will be too soft and glutinous.  Indian and American long grain rice will be too hard.  

And final tip, please absolutely do not substitute lemons for limes.

- Daisy

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Tom Kha Gai

ต้มข่าไก่

Chicken Galangal Soup

For 3-4 servings

4 medium Shallots, cut in half
3-4 fresh Thai Bird's Eye Chilis
1 stalk fresh Lemongrass, cut in half widthwise and discard the dry half.  Pound or smash the fresh half lightly with a clever or a meat pounder, then cut in 1" length
4-5 fresh Kaffir Lime Leaves, remove stem
1 2inch piece fresh Galangal (if using dry Galangal, soak in lukewarm water for 15 minutes)
1 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1 1/2 cup Water
1 1/2lb Chicken, bone-in, cut in pieces
12 oz. Oyster Mushrooms, cut in half (can substitute canned stem or fresh white button mushrooms)
2-3 Limes, juiced
3 Tbs. Fish Sauce
1/2 cup cilantro

1) Bring a big pot of water to boil.  On another burner using low heat, grill the shallots and the bird's eye chilies in aluminum foil, made into a pouch, for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

Grilling the Shallots and Birds Eye Chilis

2) In the big pot, add galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, grilled shallots, grilled chilies.  Let it simmer for five minutes to infuse the broth. 

3) Pour in coconut milk and wait until it almost boils, then immediately turn down the heat to avoid the separation of coconut milk.

4) Add the chicken and let it simmer until the chicken is done, between 5-10 minutes.  Stir in the mushroom, fish sauce and lime juice.

5) Adjust to your taste and garnish with cilantro.  Serve with rice.

Ba Mee Moo Dang (บะหมี่หมูแดง)/Thai-Style Egg Noodles with Red BBQ Pork

With soup (left) and Dry with soup on the side (right).  Notice the condiment tray to the top right, a staple on every Thai table

In the early 1900's, a prime minister of Thailand asked everyone to invent new noodle dish. By that time, a lot of Chinese had immigrated to Thailand, and they all brought their background knowhow to cook a noodle dish adapted to the hot weather and the culture of Thailand.

This classic street food must have been invented by the Cantonese. The best BBQ Pork to this day is still in Hong Kong, but Cantonese people do not exactly eat it like this. You will find that only Thai people eat the BBQ pork like this, hot and spicy, salty and sweet and a bit sour! Everything is in one dish.  We Thais know how to balance every flavor out in one dish.

The yellow noodle shown, is a Cantonese style or more southern style egg noodle.  The northern Chinese style noodle would be white, big and round, more like the Japanese udon. One package of noodles usually comes in 4 rolls of noodles. It is very important to unroll them before boiling, otherwise it will stick together.  And do not open the package and leave the noodles out to dry up. If you are not using it right away, cover with moistened paper towel until use.  Certainly do not put them in the microwave.

When buying BBQ Pork it is best to buy the whole cut that is 1 or 2 lbs. then slice it at home.  Doing this, you will get a lot nicer cut and a lot more slices to have for guests.  And remember to ask for the pan juice. If you happened to have leftovers BBQ Pork, don't worry, you can make fried rice with it.  I usually buy a bit more and chopped whatever I think I would need for the noodle and the rest I would freeze for the next week.  Fried rice with BBQ Pork will be dinner the one day of the week that I want to be lazy or I have to go somewhere that I have very little time to cook.

- Daisy

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This is one of those dishes that just scream home and comfort to me.  My mom knows this is one of my favorite dishes and always has it ready when she knows I'm coming home, especially when I'm all frazzled from a hectic week.  And the fact that she always saves me a portion for lunch the next day just makes it even more awesome.  My brother and sister like the angel hair style egg noodles with soup, while I have my soup on the side and I prefer the fettuccine style egg noodles and I like mine dry so it's almost like pan fried noodles minus all the greasiness.  And the flavors are just so much more intensified without any soup to dilute it.  I love egg noodles, and this dish really is the best of our Chinese Thai heritage that our family is so proud of.

- Darin

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Ba Mee Moo Dang บะหมี่หมูแดง
Thai-Style Egg Noodles with Red BBQ Pork

Fish Meatballs.  Feel free to skip if you're not a seafood person.

For 4 servings

For the Soup:
1 Pork Bone, chopped
2-3 Carrots, peels and chopped into 2" pieces
16-18 cups water
2 1/2 Tbsp Salt
1 tsp Rock Sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp Fish sauce
1Tbsp Black Peppercorns
1 package Fish Meatballs

1) Fill a pot of with enough water just to cover the bones and let it boil for about 5 minutes.

2) Carefully take out the bones and pour out the water.  Rise out the pot and put back in the pork bones and add the carrots.

3) Pour in 18 cups filtered water and put on high heat. After it is boiling, cover and lower the heat.

4) Use a big spoon to skim out and discard all the foam that rises to surface.   Leave it to simmer for 2-3 hours, then use a strainer to take out the bones, carrots and peppercorn, leaving only the clear broth.

5) Add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and black peppercorns.

6) When ready to assemble the bowl, get the broth to a simmer and add in the fish meatballs to cook according to package directions.

For the Noodles:

Chinese Hand Strainers. Very handy.

1 12oz. package of Fresh Chinese Egg Noodles (Twin Marquis Brand is the most popular one you'll see.  I'd recommend either the fettuccine-like noodle or the angel hair-like noodle.  Stay away from the lo mein ones.)
1 tsp Vegetable Oil
Sesame Oil

1) Boil a pot of water and generously salt.  Add a the vegetable oil.  Blanch the bean sprouts now for 1 minute in the salted water if you are using.

2) Unroll the noodles and loosen them up.  Using a strainer in one hand and a pari fo chopsticks in another, boil the noodles while constantly stirring and lifting the noodle up and down in the strainer until noodle is done, about 2-3 minutes.

3) Put the finished noodles into a bowl and add a couple drops of sesame oil.

Fresh Chinese Egg Noodles.  This one is the angel hair style.

For the Bowl:
1 roll Fresh Chinese Noodles, boiled
1 lb BBQ Pork, sliced and warmed
1 lb Bean sprouts, blanched
1 bunch Green Onion
1 bunch Cilantro
Chinese Tian Jin Preserved Vegetable

1) Start with around a cup of bean sprouts, follow with the noodles, top with BBQ pork, then the green onion, cilantro, and preserved vegetable.

2) Pour the soup over everything and make sure to get a couple of fish meatballs in there.  It adds a slightly sweet briny-ness that is just wonderful.

3) If you are eating the dish dry, serve the soup on the side in a separate bowl and add the following to the noodles in addition to the pork, bean sprouts, green onion, cilantro and preserved vegetable:
2 tsp Sweet soy sauce
1 tsp Soy sauce
1 tsp Fish sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (sambal oelek)

For the Condiments:
Asian people will always have some condiments on the table for each person to adjust the seasonings to their preference.  Below are some examples you can play with:
1) 1 Tbsp Chili garlic sauce + 3 Tbsp Apple cider
2) 1 Tbsp Jalapeño pepper, sliced + 3 Tbsp Apple cider
3) Red pepper flakes
4) Sugar
5) Fish sauce

From left to right: fish sauce, white mushroom soy sauce, condiment tray with pickled chili and sambal oelek, sweet soy sauce, fresh Chinese egg noodles (fettuccine style), preserved vegetable and sesame oil.

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup/PHỞ GÀ

Recently I have been sick for so long, so I thought, when people got sick or their children got sick what  kind of dinner which will easy to eat and you still feel that you are trying some new and authentic cuisine just like your family are out dating, right?

Vietnamese usually comes with a lot of vegetable. This recipe is so easy and so pungent, onion is to kill all the germs and virus, on top of that lime juice is vitamin C, will be the last to put in the bowl.

Since my friends are so hungry with Rice Noodle so much, I decided to made this dish for them. And boy! They cannot stop eating. I heard that the real Vietnamese they serve really big bowl. I mean REALLY BIG BOWL. May be x3 our size! So, if any could eat more than one, do not question yourself! You are fine!

- Daisy

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I hadn't tried Pho until very recently.  I grew up having delicious Thai noodle soups so I never felt the need to expand my noodle soup repertoire until maybe 3 years ago when the bahn mi craze hit NYC.  Suddenly there were Vietnamese restaurants popping up left and right.  And even then I was reluctant to try it.  I mostly stuck to the wonderful bahn mi sandwiches that were so great.  

Then the day came when I felt miserable but it was during midterms so I couldn't sulk off back to my mom's place for her to nurse me back to life like she usually did.  I was living on St. Marks then and was just down the street from Baoguette so I hauled my ass down and got some Pho.  At first I was skeptical of the basil and the abundance of lime.  Thai noodle soups usually didn't contain any basil and although we added lime, it is nothing near the amount most Viets put into their noodle soups.  

But then I tried it.  And it was awesome.  

I will always love my Thai noodle soups but the flavor profile of Pho is definitely out of this world.  The beef broth.  The lime.  The basil.  GLORIOUS.  The Vietnamese sausage that's on the menu at Baoguette is also crazy good with lots of mint.  

I'm a little sad I missed my mom making this, especially knowing how good her regular noodle soups are.  I'm sure this dish was fantastic, especially in light of all of this Hurricane business.  So jealous of my sister right now.

- Darin

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Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

PHỞ GÀ

For 4-5 Servings

For the Noodles and Broth:
3 1/2 Lbs Chicken, preferable Organic
3" Ginger
2 1/2 Tbsp Salt
3 Tbsp Rock Sugar (kinda hard to find if you don't have an Asian Super near you so just substitute equal amounts of sugar)
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Large Yellow Onions, quartered
1 package of Dry Rice Noodle, soak in hot water for at least 20 mins before you're ready to eat.
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup Salt

The Spices:
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 Tbsp Black Peppercorn
1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds
5 Star Anise
1 Whole Cinnamon Stick
7 Cloves

The Garnishes:
1 Onion, peeled and sliced very thin
1 Lb. Bean Sprouts, 3/4 to be blanched and leave 1/4 raw
4-5 Jalapeño Peppers, seeded and chopped
Lime Wedges
3 -5 Tbsp chopped Green Onion
2-4 Tbsp Cilantro, chopped
2 cups Thai Basil, leaves only
Thai Sriracha Sauce and Hoisin Sauce

1) Rub the chicken with salt and rinse well.

2) Cut out the thick oily yellow skin at the neck of the chicken and the bottom of the chicken (my mom means the butt).

3) Get a big pot of water boiling and boil the chicken for 3 minutes.  Make sure that there is enough water to completely submerge the chicken by an inch.

4) In the same pot, boil another 18-20 cups of water and put the chicken back in along the quartered onion and bring to a simmer (this means low and slow people!). At the same time toast the spices until it fragrant, about 7 minutes.  Add to the pot and continue simmer the broth until everything incorporates, about 45mins to an hour.

5) Take out the chicken and let it cool before slicing into pieces.  If you like some chicken in big pieces, like the drumstick, you may leave them individual.

6) Boil the noodles according to package directions, usually only 2 mins.  This process is much easier if you use a Chinese Colander and boil the noodles in single servings.  Make sure to have soaked the noodles in hot water for at least 20mins before.

7) In another pot, boiled water and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1/4 cup salt.  Blanch the bean sprouts for 2 minutes, then the sliced onions for 2 minutes.

8) Assemble the dish.  Add in the noodles first and top with the blanched bean sprouts, chicken slices, onion, hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce, cilantro and green onion, all to your liking.  Then pour in the broth and squeeze a wedge of lime over the entire dish.  Add the Thai basil, some fresh raw bean sprouts and jalapeño pepper.  Enjoy!