Broth

Recently somehow I developed a special interest in noodles. I had various kinds of noodles before, including fried ones, dried ones with sauce, and soup noodles. Broth is something you could find in soup noodles only, and the reason for this is very simple which is that broth is what made noodles called soup noodles. Broth is as important as noodles, if it is not more important. I often find out that a good bowl of nice soup has magical soothing and satisfying effect and this should explain why I like soup noodles particularly. I know not everyone feel the same, and I got one friend who does not like soup noodles. Individual differences is certainly a factor but personally I think that is because she has not been given a good bowl of broth.

Somehow, recently I was tempted to soup noodles more than usual, at least psychologically wanting to taste some. Something secret in the world of cooking or that belieng that seemingly simple outlook of broth, which is often described as a bowl of liquid, is that the difference between making a merely bowl of broth and making a good one. For wine, only after you taste it then can you realise how good it is. This cannot be used more suitable for broth. All ingredients are put in to make broth and when it is done, you will not see all these ingredients and how much effort and time put into there, until you taste it. Then your tender taste buds will be fed with all the souls and essence of these ingredients and all the hardships of making it, which will not be hard to help a diner to visualize a colourful kitchen garden picture, as much as that a good piece of music brings a listener outdoors without having to move his feet at all.

So I started my hunting for good soup noodles in town. There are indeed some good soup noodle places. Koya is one and I tasted its beaf soup noodles which I enjoyed. I used to taste Noodles in sesame oil and chicken broth in Leoing's legend and it is OK. One vietnamese restaurant I used to go, Viet Grill, also sells Pho in a variety of well made broths. Korean restaurants, like Myung Ga and Asadal do soups as well, though most options are spicy ones which have put me off. I just learned that there is Nooodle Oddle at Queensway presenting one traditional noodle making skill on site which is to draw thin and long strings of noodles from an original flour dough. This type of noodle is called La Mian in Chinese. This skill show seemed to appeal Gordon Ramsay who had some fun there. Hope the broth going with it will match the quality of noodles and show equivalent amount of care in it. After all, soup noodle, as its name suggests, noodle is not not at all.

(Note: Should have been posted in 2011)