Saturday, February 25, 2012

Weekend Cooking...Rice Noodle Soup with Shrimp

Yes folks, another soup. I am on a soup kick.
Here is it another of my days off, and once again chilly and rainy.
Pouring rain and thunder.
It is also a Friday in Lent, so for me, a meat free day.
And dinner time is fast approaching.
In the spirit of Lent, let's see if we can keep it fairly simple and also, maybe, at the same time, use up some things hanging around in the frig before they get furry.

So, I have that frozen shrimp in the freezer and that package of brown rice noodle I got for review from Amazon Vine. Let's check the produce drawer in the frig..a red pepper, carrots and onions, some cilantro and some limes left over...oh, I think I see another soup in my future, but this time let's look East...'cause I have to use those rice noodles!


There are dozens and dozens of recipes for soup with rice noodles out there and once again I read a bunch of them and then took an idea from here and and an idea from there. And once again, I think the result was pretty darn good.
The broth has a bit of a sweet and sour taste, with the vinegar and lime juice on the one side and the touch of sugar on the other, a little salty from the fish sauce and soy and a little hot from the chili sauce..or a lot hot if so desired.
The vegetables you add are up to you. I love the texture of rehydrated mushrooms and the crisp bok choy, the finish of scallions and the cilantro add a nice fresh taste. A lot of recipes called for lemongrass, but that would have involved a trip to the Asian Market and I was in a bit of a rush because I had to get to the beer tasting at my local liquor store before it was over. But we will talk about that another day. So no lemongrass.
And of course the choice of noodles is up to you too. The rice noodle are very quick and easy, and gluten free....but personally I have never met a noodle I didn't like so use what you like.
When they are all listed like this, it seems like a lot of ingredients, but it really is a very fast, pretty easy recipe. So don't get scared away.


Rice Noodle Soup with Shrimp
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 red pepper, cut in matchsticks
1 carrot, cut in matchsticks 

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. chili sauce or 2 Thai chilies
1 tsp. sugar
Grated rind of one lime
Juice of one lime 


1 lb. raw shrimp, cleaned, peeled
2 cups snow peas
1/2 head bok choy, roughly chopped
1 oz. dried mushroom, rehydrate in boiling water
4-8 oz. rice noodle, pre-soaked as instructions on package direct.

1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 small bunch scallions, finely sliced
dark sesame oil



In a large pot, heat the oil and add onion, garlic and ginger and saute. Add carrots, pepper and stock and let simmer. Meanwhile, mix the soy, vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, lime rind and juice and chili sauce in a small bowl to combine and then add to the stock and simmer for a few minutes.
Add the shrimp and the mushrooms and snow peas and let cook for a few minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, then add the bok choy and noodles and cook until noodle are desired consistency, another minute or two.
Ladle in bowls and served with a drizzle of sesame oil, some sliced scallions and a little chopped cilantro.



This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.


25 comments:

  1. This looks SO good! I want it for breakfast! The most impressive part is that you cobbled it together with stuff you had around the house. ;)

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  2. ...or it may show that I have way too much stuff in my frig.
    ..and I did have to get the bok choy and ginger. But I could get that close to home, unlike lemongrass.

    Would it be mean to say that I am having it for breakfast? :-)

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  3. That bowl looks absolutely awesome! Just our kind of soup. I love having shrimp in the freezer -- a great addition to last-minute cooking.

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  4. Yum, looks so yummy! Great way to incorporate more veggies in my diet :). I'll pass on the snow peas, though.

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  5. Oh yum! I've scrutinised your ingredients but don't see any furriness yet ;) Love that colourful bunch of veggies! The slice of lime on top really makes it complete :) I may just give this lovely soup a try, with tofu and without fish sauce. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

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  6. You can't go wrong with soup and that one looks delicious!

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  7. Looks like a fantastic soup! I'm allergic to shrimp but I could swap for chicken. Definitely! I love all the soups!

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  8. Wow, this looks like it was served in a restaurant! Very impressive!

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  9. Looks excellent. You should try out for the food networks next best chef/cooking star or whatever that show is.

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  10. This looks so good! I always have shrimp in my freezer, but some of the other ingredients would be a stretch. You have a VERY well-stocked fridge ;-)

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  11. I'm always looking for good Lenten soup recipes too, thanks for sharing this one. Your photos are great too!

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  12. Oh! Yours looks good too. I might have to try it, sans shrimp. I can't find rice noodles anywhere around here, we had to use spaghetti noodles.

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  13. So creative. I love how you took what you had and created something new. It looks so delicious. Great recipe for me to try. Thanks.

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  14. I don't eat seafood much, but do love shrimp. This looks really good.
    Here's Mine

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  15. Looks good but I can't eat Shrimp. If I could put chicken in it maybe. Beautiful presentation though! here is mine

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  16. I think it would be grand with any sort of protein..chicken, tofu..or even none at all, just the veggies.

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  17. I'm on a soup kick, too! I've been making a different one every 3-4 days! This one looks delicious and nutritious, too. I'm impressed that you found brown rice noodles! Can I ask where you found them?

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  18. Amazon.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041CIR62

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  19. That looks lovely. I really like all the colors!

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  20. I love soup! This looks like a great recipe!

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  21. Adding fish sauce is a good idea; I missed that the last time I tried make my own version of an Asian soup.

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  22. Yum!! You're really moving with those soups lately!

    I'm often intimidated by long ingredient lists but just try to break it down into small groups and definitely get everything onto my kitchen island before I start cooking!

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  23. Thanks for the link to where you found the noodles. Interesting that they are packaged wet--I expected them to be dried like the rice stick noodles I typically buy at the Asian market. While not a bad price for a 12 pack of such healthy noodles, I probably wouldn't use them fast enough to warrant buying them in bulk. I'm going to try to look for them at the Asian market, though. It would be great if they carried them. Or maybe Whole Foods.

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