On my recent visit to Singapore, one of the things I loved most was the early morning hawker stands selling rice congee broth and soup noodles. Men, woman and children of all ages and backgrounds line up from 5am to choose from a selection of broths, noodles, vegetables, tofu, shrimp balls, roast meats and crunchy vegetables.
For the uninitiated, being confronted with such an enormous choice can be daunting. The menu board can be just as confusing with over 30 photographs of all different variations including beef or chicken soups with beef tendon, curry laksa, miso soba, soy sauce chicken, salted white chicken, roast pork, wontons, roast duck, giblets and feet in soy, and the list goes on.
The Fijian noodle soup is a much simpler choice; just open a few packets of instant noodles, add hot water and any leftovers you have in the fridge. But in Asian hawker stands, a hearty bowl of soup noodles has lots of tasty components that combine together to make a great dish.
OODLES OF NOODLES
The choice of noodles usually depends on the type of soup. Chinese egg noodles are much longer and thinner and are an ideal match for light and meaty broth-based soups like won ton noodle soup. Udon noodles are a type of thick white Japanese noodle with a soft, chewy texture, that’s made with wheat flour. These noodles have a mild taste and are commonly served as a noodle soup with a mild broth made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin, then topped with green spring onions.
Udon are sold vaccum sealed at Chinese shops like Yon Tong or Lazy Chef in Suva, and because they are precooked you just need to add them towards the end of the cooking process. Soba noodles are dried, thin, flat noodles made from buckwheat flour and have a strong, yet wonderful nutty flavor. These noodles are also commonly used in hot Japanese soups, though their nuttiness also makes them a nice complement to rich vegetable soups. Ramen noodles as they’re known in the US, are our popular Maggi or Chow instant noodles.
These lightly springy, noodles belong in once place: ramen, the Japanese noodle soup. Traditionally, this soup is made with meat or fish-based broth, flavoured with soy sauce and miso, and topped with sliced meat, seaweed, green onions, and sometimes egg. Instant ramen is usually made from wheat flour that’s been cooked, fried, and dehydrated.
Rice vermicelli noodles are made from rice flour and usually come dried but many Indian cooks know how to also make this fresh. In terms of shape, rice noodles can be vermicelli, which have a similar thickness as angel hair pasta, or cut wider like Italian fettucine. If you’re making the Vietnamese noodle soup, pho (pronounced “fuh”), or any kind of Thai-inspired soup, get your rice noodles ready, because this is where they belong.
USING THE RIGHT UTENSILS
The fun part of eating noodle soups is you can have a myriad of components to enjoy with the noodles and the soup, but how do you get them all into your mouth at the same time? Asian food connoisseurs invented an ergonomically designed spoon that is deeper, wider and fits perfectly in the mouth; the Chinese soup spoon. Compared to a stainless steel Western spoon, it also doesn’t heat up as fast, so is unlikely to burn your mouth or lips from the hot broth. The other important tool for eating noodles is chopsticks.
A steel fork can do the same damage as a steel spoon when eating noodle soups, so wooden or plastic chopsticks are the ideal tool to pick up hot noodles and scoop them into the mouth. Learning to use chopsticks is not difficulty once you understand that only one stick actually moves, while the other stays in the same position allowing you to create a pincer action like a pair of scissors.
When in doubt ask someone who is an expert, but never make the mistake of getting frustrated and standing the two sticks upright in the middle of the bowl! This bad superstition is said to signal death as it symbolises two incense sticks at a Chinese burial ceremony. It is the one thing that will have every Chinese person at the table freaking out!
RIGHT WAY TO EAT
CHINESE SOUP NOODLES
The Chinese pick up noodles with their chopsticks, but generally don’t bother twirling around the chopsticks too many times like when eating spaghetti.
When eating noodle soups, you hold your chopsticks in one hand and your Chinese soup spoon in the other. Take a spoonful of broth and pick up some noodles with your chopsticks. Place the noodles in your spoon with the broth and any ingredients that fit, and then eat the contents of the spoon, using your chopsticks to help the noodles into your mouth.
This way you can enjoy the broth, vegetables, wontons and noodles simultaneously. If you want, you can also deliver the noodles straight to your mouth with your chopsticks, alternating mouthfuls of noodle with slurps of broth! Slurping is normal among the Chinese, not because they want to make a noise and be rude, but for practical reasons. It’s a way of introducing cool air into your mouth to cool off the noodles and the broth if its served piping hot.
SWALLOWING CLOUDS
Typical of most Asian soup noodles is sliced or braised meats, Chinese vegetables, minced fish or prawn balls, mushrooms and if you can make or order them; try adding some wontons. Wontons are delicate steamed dumplings filled with seafood, meats or vegetables and are often served deep fried but their origins can be found in noodle soups.
Wontons are easy to make with the pastry readily available at most Chinese shops in the freezer. A mixture of minced pork or chicken mixed with shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, rice flour, sesame oil and a little soy make them cheap to make and the dumplings fill you up easily especially when eaten with noodles.
In Mandarin Chinese they are called Huntun, which means “chaos” because the wrapping of the dough is scrunched up together. However, in Cantonese, wonton means “swallowing cloud” because the shape and the way it floats in the broth reminds people of a cloud.
* Lance Seeto is the multi award winning chef at Mana Island Resort and Spa, culinary ambassador for Fiji Airways, the “Fijian Grown” campaign, and host of Fiji TV’s “Taste of Paradise”.
