I have to admit, this week's recipe from French Fridays with Dorie surprised me. I didn't realize the deep ties between Vietnam and France and that Vietnamese food was part of today's French culture. When I read the recipe, one of the ingredients that caught my attention was coconut milk and I thought this would definitely not be the average ordinary chicken noodle soup.
The spices also caught my attention because some of them I had never used before, like whole coriander seeds, white peppercorns, and star anise. The spices are gathered with some cilantro stems in a piece of cheesecloth and tied in a bundle and dropped into the soup along with a couple of thai chiles. A heavenly aroma filled the house as the soup cooked on the stove.
When I poured the coconut milk into the chicken stock the broth turned to a nice milky color, but after I added the chicken to poach, the coconut milk broke apart and never did return to the milky substance it had been before. The broth ended up looking like regular chicken noodle soup, but the flavor had quite a kick to it. My husband enjoyed more than one bowl, but passed on adding the fish sauce. I served the soup along with gougères from week one that I had frozen and then popped into the oven. The crusty, cheesy puffs were a perfect accompaniment to the soup.
Next French Friday: Hachis Parmentier
A flavoursome soup… delicious…the aromas must have filled the kitchen Elaine…lovely photo too!
ReplyDeleteHa! I pulled out the last of my gougères too! Great minds!
ReplyDeleteTrevor Sis Boom.
I agree...the house smelled wonderfully when this soup was on the stove.
ReplyDeletecute serving it with the gougeres. way to go!
ReplyDelete*Buttercreambarbie
Your soup looks delicious! I like the versatility of this recipe - adding or omitting to your taste.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the shopping tips.... you Californians know where all the good spicy stuff is! Glad you added gougeres - they would spice up any meal! A beautiful soup!
ReplyDeleteI thought I recognized those gougeres- I bet they were perfect with your soup. (I wish I'd thought of it- I still have some in my freezer.) Your soup is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWasn't this an easy good soup? I loved the lil kick. I was also surprised that there were ties with those two countries. The things we learn...B
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful soup! The ingredients sound wonderful too! You're starting to be quite the food stylist, my friend!
ReplyDeleteOoo, good call on saving some gougeres to have with the soup - wish I'd thought of that!
ReplyDeleteThis looks really good. I can't wait for lunch when I can have some more! I still haven't made the gougeres, but will definitely have them with soup--thanks for the great idea. Bird chiles are one name for the small, very hot chiles used in Thai cooking. I pick them up in Chinatown.
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The gourgeres must have been wonderful with this. I wish I'd had some left!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about the historical ties too:-)
ReplyDeleteOh the spices cot my attention too but i left out the chillies!!
My bro jus peeped in and loved ur pic jus now!!
The gougeres goes beautifully with the soup. Both were delicious.
ReplyDeleteLooks tempting. Have to make this again.
I should of pulled out my gougeres from the freezer to go with this! Great idea. Your blog is fabo!
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