Soupe du jour : Easy pork pho

The Vietnamese pho soup is usually made with a longly simmered broth. I didn’t make broth, I boiled directly the spices and veggies. That’s different, but quick and tasty.

a slightly more traditional pho

Pork, carrot, mushrooms and rice noodles…

… and South-East Asian plants I had in my freezer (lemon grass, galangal, citrus leaves, coriander leaves) and pantry (star anise, cloves, Sichuan pepper, dry chili, garlic). Then I added nuoc nam fish sauce, sugar and lemon juice.

The big bowl :

Cal 317.5 F 3.3g C 54.1g P 19.1g

Konnyaku, asparagus, rice noodles stir-fry

Another easy Asian one dish meal. I stir-fried Thai noodles, with ground meat (pork), a little spicy Thai sauce, garlic, ginger, chili pepper…

Green asparagus and Konnyaku shaped in threaded cylinders. Konnyaku is a root veggie like manioc and they sell blocks of it already cooked. That’s like a thick jelly, flavorless but it takes the taste of the sauce. The texture is pleasant under the teeth. Bonus : it makes zero calories and it helps digestion.

Spooned papaya with lemon juice for dessert.

Fruity duo wok

What you can’t see is this chunky sauce has a charming complex flavor of two fruits.

2 fruits ?

Let’s start with the actual fruit : yuzu lemon. Then kabocha pumpkin and mushrooms are like Autumn’s fruits…

These small chilis are not very strong… if you stay away from the seeds, that is. They have an incredible fruity flavor. I can’t tell… something between litchee and cherry.

The classic basic with ground meat. The fragrant mirepoix mix of garlic, onion, ginger is completed with yuzu rind. The sauce is kochujang, douchi (fermented beans), a little sochu (sweet potato alcohol) and yuzu juice. The kabocha is added mid-way. Later the mushrooms.

Later tofu. And Sichuan pepper.

Serve with rice noodles. Top with more chili and sesame seeds.

Voila !

Caramelised veggies on Thai noodles

You’re in fusion-city. Noodle-mania ward. Abebia street, near Natto square.

Thai rice noodles, seasoned with nam pla fish sauce, a little black sugar, coriander leaves (frozen), chili… finished with a little Chinese black vinegar and sesame oil.

The carrots and akebi were pan fried together and caramelised a little (it’s not burnt, it’s sweet).

Natto, a scrambled egg, steamed shungiku leaves.

Lunch tray to eat on the balcony.

Just a sauce changes it all. Yuzu-kosho kimizu.

Steaming is a convenient way to cook your food. Then you just need a sauce. Something that would go with meat, with veggies…
A mayonnaise, maybe. Or a kimizu.
It’s a classic Japanese sauce, the name means “vinegar and egg yolk”. It’s Japan’s mayonnaise or hollandaise, but there is a difference, you will see.
Recipes vary, the principle is always the same : egg yolk and vinegar, but no oil nor butter.

Kimizu sauce, recipe

Basic :
1 egg yolk, 1 tbs of rice vinegar, 3 tbs of liquid. A little sugar and salt.
What I call liquid can be water, dashi stock, a mix of both. This time :
I have added 1 ts of mirin to 3 tbs of water.
I have not used salt nor soy sauce because the yuzu-koshio is very salty.

It’s very simple, like a sabayon.
Mix the ingredients in a bowl, put on pot of hot (not boiling) water, whisk until it doubles of volume and becomes thick.
You can serve it room temperature or chilled.

I have added 1 ts of yuzu-kosho paste at the end. You can buy this condiment in a Japanese grocery store or make it (click here to see how).
That brings a taste of green, citrus and some heat.