Quick Bites: Asian-Style Noodle Soup

On our way to get our veggie share, we randomly stopped into an Asian market. I love browsing Asian and Indian markets and checking out all the cool new foods. We left with a bunch of things including rice sticks and a spicy chile and bean paste. When we got shiitake mushrooms in our share, I knew that I would be making soup for lunch.

Here is a helpful hint for when you make chicken stock. When the stock is cooled, measure it in 1, 2, and 4 cup increments into plastic freezer bags. Then you always have stock at the ready for a quick soup for one or two people.

For this soup I cooked 1 cup of chicken stock, a few sliced shiitake mushrooms, minced garlic and ginger, and some chopped scallion. When the mushrooms were softened and the soup boiling I took it off the heat and added a small handful of the rice noodles and a splash of fish sauce and let it sit for a few minutes. I garnished the whole thing with some toasted sesame oil, a bit of tamari soy sauce, a bit more chopped scallion, and a healthy spoonful of the chili paste. It was delicious… Spicy and salty with ginger and barely chewy noodles.

Have a great weekend!

Advertisement

Grenadine

Grenadine

I thought about posting a recipe that you could make for the big game. I am making buffalo wings myself. The thing is, there are lots of great recipes out there for appetizers, entrees, and desserts all geared toward tomorrow’s festivities.

Ingredients (juice is already in the pan)

So instead, I thought I would post a recipe that will help you with the other important element of game day… the drinking. Beers are of course, de rigueur. However, sometimes you just want an ice cold cocktail. And when you make a cocktail, you want to use the freshest ingredients available.

Simmering the deliciousness

This recipe for grenadine takes only a couple of ingredients and a little bit of time. Mix real pomegranate juice (POM is good) with sugar, lemon juice, and orange zest and let it cook down until syrupy. Bottle, store in the refrigerator, and swoon over the delicious taste it adds to your cocktails. Forget that bright red cough syrup stuff sold in the grocery stores, make this and make your cocktails great.

Straining the grenadine

Grenadine

Recipe from Boozehound by Jason Wilson

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups pomegranate juice

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

Strips of zest from half an orange

To Make:

Place pomegranate juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and add the sugar and lemon juice and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange zest. Let the mixture simmer until reduced by about half (30-45 minutes). Strain into a bottle or other glass container. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

To Serve:

Use in delicious cocktails of all sorts. If you would like to store it longer (up to 2 months), add 1/4 ounce of 151-proof rum.