Soup Du Jour

G said tonight's soup was maybe the best soup he's ever had, so I thought I should write down what I put in it so I can make it again exactly. I used a recipe in The Best of Sunset cookbook as a guide (1987). The recipe is called Beef Soup with Shining Noodles. I used about 1 pound of top round. I cut it into thin strips about two inches long. The recipe calls for sherry, but I had a very small bottle of E&J brandy from this weekend. I bought the brandy to make pate. I have always loved pate. Now that I know what is in it, I don't think I like it anymore. I knew it had liver in it (of course), but it has more butter in it than anything else. The pate I made had a weird taste to it. I wound up with fancy cat food. Anyhoo, I poured two tablespoons of brandy (instead of dry sherry) and two tablespoons of olive oil onto the beef, and set it to the side. I put about four cloves of garlic through a garlic press and heated it in two tablespoons of olive oil with six small dried chiles (I think they are arbol). Once the garlic just started to change color, I added two quarts of organic free range chicken broth, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and one tablespoon of soy sauce. Once that started to come to a boil, I added 3/4 of the 8 oz package of rice vermicelli (that was the closest Market Street had to cellophane noodles, and I didn't want to make the extra trip to the Korean store). Once the noodles began to get soft, I added three chopped green onions (including tops) and the beef. The beef cooks fast. It takes maybe three or four minutes. At the end I added 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.

As it turned out, the soup was more Vietnamese than Chinese (as the cookbook had intended) or Korean (which is what I originally had in mind). Because I didn't stop by the Korean store and get hot pepper paste (gochujang), I got Sriracha hot chile paste which was the closest Market Street had. What we wound up with was basically pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). I served it to G with the Sriracha (which is always served with pho), plenty of cilantro, mint, and lime wedges. The only thing I didn't have that is usually served with pho was bean sprouts. Gray couldn't get enough. Jon liked everything but the beef, and he got seconds of noodles and soup. Jer made a dent in it, but there was plenty left in his bowl. G ate three bowls. It really did turn out delicious, but I don't think it was the best soup I've ever eaten. It was pretty close though. Sorry no photo. I'll get one next go.