This dish of Rice Noodle Soup with Salmon, Snow peas and Shiitake Mushrooms is my nontraditional adaptation of phở cá, a fish phở I enjoyed in Vietnam, a splendid comforting lunch or light dinner for the first chilly, rainy days of autumn.
Phở, the national dish of Vietnam, is the street food of ordinary people, available from pushcarts and neighborhood stalls throughout Vietnam. Even though phở prepared in north Vietnam differs from that prepared in south Vietnam, phở always consists of three elements: an umami-rich broth, rice noodles and toppings (meat or seafood, vegetables, spices and herbs). Phở is a main, not a side dish in Vietnamese culinary tradition. But for non-Vietnamese, phở is a sweet and savory spice and herb-flavored noodle soup with the texture of chewy rice noodles and crunchy bean sprouts.
Hanoi cooks preparing pho
Enjoying phở cá in Hanoi
The origin of phở is unclear. Some food historians claim that phở originated in north Vietnam in the 1880s after French colonization and establishment of French Indochina. Others attribute the origin of phở to the 1,000-year Chinese rule. Thus, the phở name (pronounced “fuh”) is derived either from the Chinese word for noodles “fun” or “fan,” or is a corruption of the French word “feu”, as in “pot au feu” (which literally means “pot-on-the-fire”), the French boiled meat and vegetable dish that some claim is its ancestor.
For patriotic Vietnamese, however, rather than acknowledging that a foreign cuisine was a source of phở, a more politically acceptable story is that phở originated in the villages of Nam Dinh Province north of Hanoi and was sold by vendors who wore felt hats known as mũ phở, from handy gánh phở shoulder poles. Whatever its true origin, phở traveled south and with central and South Vietnamese immigrants, fleeing Communist Vietnam’s rule after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 to the western hemisphere. Outside Vietnam, although the basic components were retained, phở recipes are often adapted to whatever ingredients are available locally.
Most cooks agree that phở broth is the essence of the dish which makes the dish Vietnamese rather than an ordinary soup and what gives this dish its distinctive character. The cook’s phở broth quality often determines a Vietnamese cook’s skill.
There is no perfect technique for creating good phở broth, but the common goal is to make a flavorful, clear base for the other ingredients. The secret to making delicious phở is layering flavors to create a rich and fragrant broth. Most phở recipes start with a choice of meat/bones, either beef, chicken, pork or seafood, which determine the type of phở. Yellow onions, ginger, star anise, cloves, salt, fish sauce and yellow rock sugar provide the usual flavorings.
Phở is commonly made either with beef stock or chicken stock. Beef phở can be any meat from thinly sliced flank, tenderloin or brisket, to tendon and other fatty pieces of beef. Chicken phở is often made with a whole chicken, and less common pork phở is with various pork cuts. But versions of noodle soups that contain seafood are also available in Vietnam, especially in seaside towns along the country’s 2026 mile (3,260 kilometers) coastline where practical Vietnamese cooks use locally plentiful fresh fish. Sometimes these seafood noodle soups are called phở or bún cá or phở cá or hu tieu, but in addition to seafood, the components are identical – a delicious broth, rice noodles, spices and vegetables.
Although no two phởs are the same and there are many ways to make phở broth, there is a general consensus that a good phở broth requires excellent quality ingredients and long cooking. Traditional methods (and there are many) for making phở broth are time consuming requiring numerous pots, rinsing of bones and hours of cooking (from 3 to 12 hours, depending on the recipe) to create that magical broth. There are significant differences of opinion as to the sequence for preparation and addition of ingredients. But the goal is the same in each instance – a flavorful, nourishing broth.
So, not having hours to spend on making the perfect phở broth, I set myself the goal of developing a flavorful stock using short-cuts generally unavailable or unused by Vietnamese cooks.
Since seafood phở is often based on either chicken or vegetable stock, I shortened the preparation time by many hours by starting with a purchased good-quality low sodium chicken stock as the basis for layering other flavors. Onion and ginger, charred and softened for a few minutes on a gas burner distinguish Vietnamese phở from other Asian soups, enrich the depth of flavor and add coloring to the broth. Soaking liquid from shiitake mushrooms provides an added meaty punch of satisfying umami not available from any other plant. A bouquet garni of salty dried shrimp, smoky black cardamom, licoricey star anise, sweet cinnamon and coriander stems further embolden and deepen the broth’s seafood flavor. Strained clam juice elevates the seafood flavor of this fish broth. Finally, a good chunk of yellow rock sugar adds a subtle note of sweetness. An hour of cooking and an hour of steeping permeates the kitchen with the fragrance of the comforting broth and earthy herbs.
Adding steamed salmon, snow peas and sliced shiitakes to the hot broth at serving time completes a satisfying meal. The result is a darned good noodle soup with nontraditional ingredients, a close match to the phở I enjoyed in the Vietnamese restaurant years ago and an excellent illustration of phở’s adaptability to new ingredients. This Rice Noodle Soup with Salmon, Snow peas and Shiitake Mushrooms is excellent on the day it is made and a great leftover the next day.
Weldon and I garnished our bowls with fresh mint, Thai basil, and cilantro, bean sprouts, slices of chiles and lime, spiced up with three sauces: black soy, chili and hoisin. I have several quarts of fish broth frozen and next time, I will prepare a version with shrimp and other finfish.
Rice Noodle Soup with Salmon, Snow peas and Shiitake Mushrooms
Broth
2 quarts water
2 quarts low sodium chicken broth
4 ounces dried shrimp*
3-4 medium shiitake mushroom caps*
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
+ additional 1 tablespoon minced ginger for salmon
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons palm or yellow rock sugar*
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
4 star anise
3-4 black cardamom pods***
10 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks, 10-15 cm each
1 bunch fresh cilantro stems, reserving leaves|
1 cup bottled clam juice
Salt to taste
Soup
3- 4 ounce (113 g) salmon fillets, cut into 1-1 ½ inch (2.5 – 3.8 cm) strips
Salt and pepper
1 cup snow peas, with strings trimmed
¼ cup thinly sliced white onion
12 ounces. Banh phở rice-stick noodles *
Garnish
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
3-4 scallions, chopped white and light green parts
1 bunch fresh mint leaves
1 bunch fresh Thai basil leaves (substitute regular basil)
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
Sliced jalapeno or serrano
Lime wedges
Black soybean sauce**
Chili sauce such as Sriracha*
Hoisin sauce*
Place shiitake mushrooms in a heat-proof bowl; pour boiling water to cover the mushrooms by about 1 inch.
Set aside to soak and cool for 1 hour. Once mushrooms have softened, remove from soaking liquid, discard stems and thinly slice the mushroom caps, reserving the soaking liquid.
Char ginger root and onion over the flame of a gas burner (or under a broiler) until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove when black spots start to appear and once cooled, chop into small pieces.
Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Sauté onion, ginger, and garlic in the stockpot until softened, about 3 minutes.
In a 16 inch (40cm) square of triple-layer cheesecloth, assemble a bouquet garni by combining dried shrimp, cloves, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon stick and cilantro stems, tying into a bundle with string. In a large pot, combine water, chicken broth, fish sauce, mushroom soaking liquid (reserving the sliced mushrooms for later), light soy sauce and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Taste for saltiness (which depends on the saltiness of the dried shrimp) and add salt as needed to create a pleasantly salty taste. (The broth can be salty at this point. The saltiness will be toned down once the broth is poured over the unseasoned rice noodles and salmon.)
Turn heat off and let steep for another hour. Using a large slotted spoon, remove bouquet garni out of the broth; discard. Add strained clam juice. Set aside to cool. Makes about 4 quarts of broth which can be used immediately or refrigerated or frozen for later use. (I have several quarts in the freezer for a future quick meal.)
When ready to serve, assemble a garnish plate of bunches of Thai basil, mint, cilantro leaves, fresh bean sprouts, chopped scallions, sliced jalapeno or serrano and lime wedges. Set aside.
Prepare phở noodles by pouring boiling water over dried Banh Phở noodles and let stand 20 to 30 minutes until softened.
Trim ends of snow peas removing string which runs the length of the pod. Place in small heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 5 minutes, then plunge snow peas into iced water, remove and set aside.
Season salmon pieces with 2 tablespoons of black soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of minced ginger. Arrange salmon on lettuce leaves in a steamer basket and steam for 3 minutes. Remove salmon from steamer basket and set aside.
Turn heat back up to medium-high and bring the broth back to a boil. Check and adjust seasoning if needed. Add shiitake mushroom slices, snow peas and sliced white onions to the broth. Finely chop a few sprigs of mint, basil and cilantro and add to broth, reserving remaining herbs uncut for the garnish plate. Turn off heat.
Divide noodles evenly between six large soup bowls. Divide and break up pieces of salmon evenly into each bowl. Pour hot broth over salmon, distributing mushroom slices and snow peas. Salmon will finish cooking in the hot broth. Serve.
Diners can garnish individual servings with bean sprouts, green onion, mint, basil, cilantro, jalapeno, lime wedges and chili, black soy and hoisin sauces as desired.
Serves 6
*Available at Asian grocery stores or online.
** Black soy sauce is opaque, black, and viscous. The most prominent characteristic is the dark color and the taste of palm sugar molasses. I used the Koon Chun brand available online from Amazon.
*** Black cardamom has a distinct flavor different from green cardamom. It is stronger and slightly smoky. Available online or from a spice shop like Penzey’s.
One year ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/spinach-nalysnyky-crepes-veal-stroganoff/
Two years ago :http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/corn-peppers-goat-cheese-clafoutis/
Three years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/roasted-corn-and-jalapeno-cornbread-with-mixed-pepper-jam/
Read more: Rice Noodle Soup with Salmon, Snow peas and Shiitake Mushrooms – A Relative Phở