VIETNAMESE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP-French Fridays w Dorie

I jus finished baking 2 gorgeous desserts from Around My French Table and was about to post them too....but wait hang on in there....maybe i'll wait ,coz i have joined the French Fridays With Dorie and am so ♥' n it ...totally...

So as i sat at 1.00 am, going thru the list of ingredients i wondered if this will be my first French Post with Dorie...

And a BIG shout out to a dear buddy CHAYA, coz of whom i joined in and am so so happy to be here!!

And here i am....pretty quick to put by,unless ur blogging about it[longer if with burning eyes:-( ]

I love Dorie's intro to each recipe, and have so muc bookmarked there ,that it excites me as soon as am there.

Being a new blogger , i have jus begun my collection of books @few months has touched 70+ but have barely been able to go thru them all.
To make things more difficult my college books have place right next to all my recipe books:-)
Back to Dorie, i love FFwD group coz i have no restrictions of participating , i can link on any time and what better way to droll over and read everybodys expierence's and see pics galore...

Dorie talks about France's long and deep ties to Vietnam [a former colony, i love in a former portugese colony ,dont i:-) ],so findin a good sprinkling of Vietnamese recipes even in the smallest french towns is so normal...
Love the Bonne Idee of every recipe too...

I simmer soups @daily coz my little bro simply loves soup and i always love simmering fresh soup...
So obviously i was going to be simmering a soup here..but ok i didn have all the ingredients stocked up so was either going to have to sub or have someone to drive me early morning to a nearest local market ....

Ok all i needed was the egg noodles and green basil [why have i still not got hold of some seeds to have my own basil anytime:-( and fresh too]

Ahh , i need cilantro too....the stems ie ....

And with the whole household the flu bug cot me too, and i ended up simmering this soup twice.
First time with all subs like pasta instead of noddles, barely any cilantro stems et all.
Both times i didn add the red chillies and pepper coz we arent a spicy soup eating family [i know]!

An aromatic soup that will have leave ur home fragrant with all the goodness u love!!
I ended with with 48 pics, thats what u get when ur doing a step by step post is it.....but i loved every moment !!!

Lets begin with the spices dat are going to flavor the soup and delightfully so....
Before that we have some very flavorful stems, Cilantro stems, i had no cheese cloth or kitchen twine[ + rember im with flu] so i used my herb choppin device to chop them very finely!

Star Anise ...oh beautiful...and all u need are 2 star points...adds to the fragrant aroma when simmering..

Coriander...ahh i finally had one French ingredient on hand.....dat too hand picked by Le Cordon Bleu..

Oh all i need is to pick all the coriander from the peppers

[see how pretty the pink peppercorns are....]

 till u have a Tsp of coriander to add to the broth!!

And then a nice ,small onion, i used Pink onion, not coz i love Pink [but i do!] but coz dats wat we had in the pantry!

 I love rings...pretty onion rings, i hope u do too, dey are pretty besides there is lods u can do with them!

 Garlic...garlic is good and i always love a little in soups....their flavor and aroma .almost unmatched!!!

  And dont u forget to take off those little green babies in there,

 i thought they were good till a few days back i read somewhere [still tryn to remember wer] that they are bitter....

Ginger...warm warm ginger on a rainy day like today....

  didn mince it ,as the recipe said, i excused my self saying remember i aint well + i love crushed ginger in soups...

Water, all of 6 cups, 6times this pic, actually stock is better, but i used a combi of...

Stock powder+

a stock cube...

 And 14 ounces of milk..Creamy coconut milk!!!

2tbh of Asian Fish sauce, love it.....

1 tsp Brown sugar, organic brown sugar...to add that touch of sweetness...optional but so good!

Chicken breasts, on the bone , u add it later ,but i added it into the cold soup pot, like i would for stock
[ok i didn read the adding later part:-) ]

Button mushrooms, i'll tell u what i did to them in a bit...hang on...its delish!!

 And then there are some orange carrots and sprouts...deep orange carrots and green green okra...

 Lods of Garlic Chives from my little garden, for everything!!

 Noodles, egg noodles would be perfect but i  had these which [was told],are called wooden noodles...

  Boil them in lots of salted water , drain , add some olive oil[butter] ...

  ....and well i couldn stop some garlic chives too...

U need to get the chicken out so u can cool it a bit....

 Cooling it makes shredding so muc easier...

 Optional garnishes..the part i love....

Mushrooms tossed in garlic ,butter, seasoned ,with a touch of chopped chives!

 Cherry toms tossed lightly in the same pan....

 the buttery mushroomy flavor adds something so so good to the toms...

With balsamic vinegar....sweetness heightened very well....

Cucumber Julienned.... not pickled...

 Fresh fresh cucumber....

Carrots...fresh Carrots...

 the hot broth will soften them a bit later......

Blanched Sprouts...soak beans over night and then tie them in a cheese cloth or leave them on a strainer another 24 hours for sprouts...

Cilantro chopped,very nice..

Okra...added to the soup in the last 10 mins...

Stays crunchy and softens at the same time...nice...

Am sure u'd love this recipe ,u'll find it here [India] or here [US] !

Must try version of this soup would be seafood with Shrimps, calamari, crab & lemon grass, i believe it will be very good!


Yeah we arent to type the recipe here but if u really want it ,and for some reason cant buy the book,leave or email here or email me directly!
For a family with flu's & fevers ,with so low appetite's dis is it!!!fantastic!!

The egg is a hearty + nutritious addition.

And to view all the delicious Soups and different versions hop by at French Fridays w Dorie and remember this month the recipes were chosen by Dorie herself!

And if u cant view the pics here head here for a fast view!!!