Glass Noodle Soup from Thailand is not too spicy and offers a nice take on chicken noodle soup.
Many who are not familiar with Thai cuisine may not realize that not all the dishes are spicy hot. This dish should soothe your tummy, no matter where you're from! However, Thai ingredients such as peppercorns, fish sauce, cilantro and coriander seeds are part and parcel of the Thai smorgasbord.
You may want to serve some chicken with this soup, makes for a great meal. I do recall the first time I ate fresh chicken. It was on my first visit to Malaysia after living in Canada for seven years, my grandmother asked if we wanted chicken for dinner, we said "sure." Wouldn't you know it, she went out back, we heard some squawking and a THUMP! We rushed to the kitchen out back (most kitchens are open air) and there she was plucking a fresh kill.
By the way, you may want to scrutinize similar cuisines from SE Asia such as Malaysian, Laotian, Cambodian and also Singaporean. Check out other Thai-style recipes from this section: Thai Steak, Lemongrass Chicken and Green Papaya Salad.
GLASS NOODLE SOUP
Ingredients
- 5 oz (150 g) ground pork
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 4 cups (1 litre) Thai Chicken Stock (check recipe below)
- 4 crushed white peppercorns
- 6 crushed cloves of garlic
- 2 oz (50 oz) dried glass noodles, soaked in warm water to soften
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 8 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked to soften, tops sliced
- sugar
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
Method
- Mix the meat, soy sauce and ground pepper together and form into small, rough meatballs.
- Heat the stock in a pot, added the crushed peppercorns and garlic and bring to boil.
- Add the noodles, fish sauce, mushrooms and a sprinkling of sugar. Simmer until the meatballs are cooked.
- Add the cilantro. Remove from heat immediately.
SERVES 4.
THAI CHICKEN STOCK
- Approx. 3 kg chicken bones, or ½ whole chicken
- 6 litres water
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
Preparation: Wash bones in cold water then put in a stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring to boil, drain and discard water. Cover bones with the six litres of water and add all other ingredients. Simmer for three hours, removing the cum on top. Strain through cloth. Stock can be frozen up to 3 months. Yields two litres of stock soup.
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After you're done eating, you may wonder about what Thais do to finish off a meal. More common desserts include exotic fruits such as mangoes, lychee, jackfruit and rambutan. But there are such sweet offerings as Sangkaya Fak Thong (pumpkin custard), Foi Thong (known as golden threads) and Tab Tim Grob (translated as "red rubies") – water chestnut in a red coating of tapioca flour served with coconut cream and shaved ice.
