Welcome back to this sous #shef’s second attempt at cooking a Vietnamese broth 👩🏻🍳.
I decided to tackle mì quảng, a traditional noodle soup from the Quảng Province. It is actually very hard to find mì quảng outside of Vietnam because there are so many parts to the dish and not many restaurants find it cost-efficient to cook.
This dish was made with reference to my friend’s mum’s cooking. I used our new 15L pot. For the recipe, I compiled and readjusted these (one, two, three plus parents advice) with enough stock to feed 4 households (8-10 people).
I decided to tackle mì quảng, a traditional noodle soup from the Quảng Province. It is actually very hard to find mì quảng outside of Vietnam because there are so many parts to the dish and not many restaurants find it cost-efficient to cook.
This dish was made with reference to my friend’s mum’s cooking. I used our new 15L pot. For the recipe, I compiled and readjusted these (one, two, three plus parents advice) with enough stock to feed 4 households (8-10 people).
Shopping
From the Asian grocery store:
- Turmeric noodles (yellow, flat) – 1 packet makes 3 large bowls
- 4 tomatoes
- 2 shallots
- 2 garlic and 1 onion
- 1 bunch of coriander
- 1 bunch of mint leaves
- 2 limes
- Roasted peanuts
- 1 bunch of lettuce
- 1 can of quail eggs
- 1 can of sliced pineapple
- Annato seeds (optional)
- Sesame rice paper – bánh đa mè (optional)
From the butcher:
From the wet market:
From your cupboard:
- 2 kg pork ribs – butcher cut the pieces into small pieces for me
- 600g pork belly
From the wet market:
- 1 kg tiger prawns – picked these for their salty flavour profile
From your cupboard:
- Salt + Pepper + Sugar
- Fish sauce
- Turmeric powder
- Paprika powder
Prepping
For my broth:
- Cleaned pork ribs and parboiled for 10 minutes on high heat
- Drained all the gunk and washed my pot
- Put bones and 6L water back in and boil on high heat
- Continued simmering for an hour, scooping up the gunk
For my pork belly:
- Cleaned and chopped into 5cm slices
- Added 2 tbsp sliced shallots, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp paprika,
1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp fish sauce - Marinated for one hour in the fridge
For my prawns:
- Cleaned and removed heads (for flavouring)
- Added 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp paprika
- Marinated for one hour in the fridge too
Cooking
In a pan, I used olive oil to cook the annatto seeds and then used the annatto-infused oil to cook the pork belly, prawns and prawn heads for a depth of flavour. This was optional. Some recipes said to strain and add the oil to the pot but I skipped this step.
Meanwhile, I added the onion and some chopped garlic to the broth and continued scooping the top/adding water when needed.
The prawn heads were put into a soup-bag and into my broth around the 1.5-hour mark. This ensured the broth would soak up the umami flavours and remain clear.
The prawn heads were put into a soup-bag and into my broth around the 1.5-hour mark. This ensured the broth would soak up the umami flavours and remain clear.
I forgot to take a photo but I quartered my tomatoes and pineapple and put them in the broth too. Some recipes said to sauté the tomatoes into a thick sauce but with my lack of culinary experience, I didn’t want to fuck it up 😂.
Around the 3 hour mark, I seasoned with 1-2 ladles of fish sauce, 2 tbsp turmeric, 2 tbsp paprika, 3 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp salt to taste. The broth should be a concentrated soup.
Around the 3 hour mark, I seasoned with 1-2 ladles of fish sauce, 2 tbsp turmeric, 2 tbsp paprika, 3 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp salt to taste. The broth should be a concentrated soup.
Toppings
I sautéed my marinated pork belly in annatto-infused oil. It was savoury and had a strong turmeric flavour when eaten on its own.
The prawns were cooked for a few minutes, with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp fish sauce. They were salty and again, heavily soaked in turmeric when eaten on their own.
🥗 I prepared the coriander, mint leaves, lettuce and lime while the broth continued to simmer.
🥚 I forgot to take a photo but the quail eggs were washed and then cooked in boiling water for a few minutes.
🥜 The peanuts were already salted and roasted.
🥗 I prepared the coriander, mint leaves, lettuce and lime while the broth continued to simmer.
🥚 I forgot to take a photo but the quail eggs were washed and then cooked in boiling water for a few minutes.
🥜 The peanuts were already salted and roasted.
Serving
The trick to mì quảng is to have such a concentrated broth that the dish only needs a third soup, third noodles and third toppings. The noodles were cooked in a separate pot of boiling water. And everything was combined into a bowl.
Feedback
I was using this bowl of mì quảng I had in Luong Son, Vietnam as a foundation for my cooking. From memory, the broth was more diluted with a strong tomato base and lots of pork pieces. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish my goal of reliving this childhood memory 😔
Based on the recipes I followed (one, two, three), the final dish was supposed to be like a true mì quảng from the Quảng province… luckily S’s mom is from there and my friends, S&T, have had the real thing.
Their feedback was that there was a lack of depth of flavour in my dish. It needed to be more concentrated. Some options they provided were:
Mick and A said it was a very “clean” and delicious broth but they have limited to zero mì quảng experience. At least we know my cooking is edible! 😂 And my parents enjoyed the dish but they kept saying it was not like the bowl they’ve had in Vietnam 🤷🏻♀️.
Thanks for reading 😃 I need to eat the true Quang-style dish before I attempt this again. Just waiting for S’s mom next batch or for the borders to open so we can fly to Vietnam.
Until then, happy cooking!
Their feedback was that there was a lack of depth of flavour in my dish. It needed to be more concentrated. Some options they provided were:
- Adding more turmeric powder (which I didn’t do because I’m a #Shef and I didn’t want to fuck it up)
- Frying the onion and pork ribs before putting it in the pot
Mick and A said it was a very “clean” and delicious broth but they have limited to zero mì quảng experience. At least we know my cooking is edible! 😂 And my parents enjoyed the dish but they kept saying it was not like the bowl they’ve had in Vietnam 🤷🏻♀️.
Thanks for reading 😃 I need to eat the true Quang-style dish before I attempt this again. Just waiting for S’s mom next batch or for the borders to open so we can fly to Vietnam.
Until then, happy cooking!
it really hit me when Shane West said Love is like the wind you never see it but you feel it.
Cooking is my passion. I love spending time in the kitchen
I need more