Lemon Grass and Rice Noodle Fish Soup
Published November 27, 2012
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 teaspoons unrefined peanut oil or sesame oil
1 large onion, in thick slices
1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
½ cup thinly sliced lemon grass
1 2-inch piece cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 cloves
½ teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
4 small dry red chiles
⅛ teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce
8 cups fish broth or chicken broth
Salt and pepper
8 ounces thin rice noodles (vermicelli)
2 pounds mussels, scrubbed
1 pound squid, sliced ½-inch thick
½ cup roughly chopped cilantro, for garnish
¼ cup chopped scallions, for garnish
Leaves from 1 small bunch Thai basil, for garnish
6 fresh green or red Thai bird chiles, slivered, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Place a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the peanut oil, and swirl to coat. When oil is hot, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until softened and lightly browned. Add all the aromatics (ginger, lemon grass, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, coriander, fennel, dry chiles and turmeric) and stir to distribute. Add the sugar and let everything fry lightly, until sugar begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 30 minutes. Strain, discarding solids. Season to taste with the salt and a generous amount of pepper. (May be prepared several hours ahead.)
- Step 2
Soak the rice noodles: Put the rice vermicelli in a large bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stir noodles as they soften. Soak for about 20 minutes until tender. Cool in a colander under running water and drain. Reserve at room temperature.
- Step 3
To serve, bring soup to a brisk simmer. Add the mussels and put on the lid. Cook 2 minutes, until mussels have opened. Add the squid, stir to combine and cook 30 seconds more. Turn off heat.
- Step 4
Divide rice noodles among 4 large soup bowls. Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the cilantro, scallions and Thai basil. Pass the fresh chiles and lime wedges separately.
Private Notes
Comments
This was a delicious first course for a dinner party. Some suggestions: definitely use fish stock; use half the amount of cinnamon and cloves; double the amount of crushed coriander and fennel seed; add 1 or 2 hot chiles when making the broth. Add about 1 c. julienned fennel along with 1/2 lb. fish trim pieces and use less mussels; adjust acidity with lemon or lime juice. Toasted nori is a nice addition to the garnish. We enjoyed a very nice white wine from Savoie with this.
We made this, but converted it to a chicken soup. (ie. Chicken broth, and chicken thighs instead of fish). It's an amazing soup and exactly what I need in my life. The spices were perfect and I can't wait to make it again.
I agree with doubling of crushed coriander and fennel seeds. I would NOT change the cinnamon sticks or cloves. My husband and I thought the rice noodles were lacking in flavor, and we plan to try this again using chicken or other dumplings instead of the vermicelli. We added Sriracha sauce for heat, as we didn't have any fresh Thai chiles. Use generous lime squeeze, or to taste. YUM. This was excellent. Definitely will repeat!
I couldnt find any fish broth so I used high quality chicken broth. I also did not notice that I needed 1/2 cup of lemongrass! I barely even had half the amount of lemongrass but still made the recipe since it was too late to get more. The refipe is fairly easy and delicious. I advise that you fond fish broth instead of using chicken broth. IMO it isnt really a fish soup if chicken broth is used. The broth also looked nothing like the image.
Delicious! I tripled the couriander and fennel seeds, doubled lemongrass, and added more soy sauce for more flavor. I bashed a lemongrass stalk and added it whole - next time will do that with a couple stalks instead of slicing. I used 1.5lbs wild Halibut and added it to strained broth for a couple of minutes to poach it at the end. Kids loved it!!
Very complex flavor, delicious hearty soup with the calamari. I didn't have mussels but I think it came out just as good. next time I'll also buy Thai Basil since all I had were scallions and cilantro. it's quite a bit of prep, I used a chicken stock instead of fish stock.