So Urban Belly has this soup, this amazing soup full of shrimp and udon noodles and veggies, and just enough chilis to open up your sinuses. I crave it on cold nights. The clouds have been spitting mean little ice pellets at us all day, and to make matters worse I’ve been coughing and hacking all day long. My throat wanted this soup tonight. My throat wanted it badly enough that I got off the bus early to pick it up, and walked home A MILE in the ice with it. Fortunately it was still pretty hot when I got home. And doubly fortunately, I managed to only eat HALF of it, so I can warm up the other half for lunch tomorrow, because I’m pretty sure I’m still going to be coughing, and thus still craving this soup.
Last year I spent a bunch of months trying to figure out how to replicate this soup, actually. I never succeeded, at least not to my satisfaction. Anyone have any recipes for a Thai style chili/lime/shrimp/cilantro/udon soup for me to try? :)
Your breakfast sure looks happy!
Do you ever read Chez Pim? She does a great job walking through traditional Thai food recipes (being from Thailand herself and a super-foodie to boot).
This soup sounds like a good starting point:
http://chezpim.com/uncategorized/tom_yum_goong_s
and it requires this chile paste (which seems to sum up cardinal Thai flavors):
http://chezpim.com/uncategorized/nam-prik-pao
Now I want soup.
i have a similar soup-love, of the dashi udon variety. i too have been trying to replicate it as well to no avail…
Oh man, that looks delicious. It has all my favorite things in it!
Oooh Laila thank you for the link!! I will definitely be trying that one. Tom Yum is also a great great soup for if you’re feeling under the weather. And any chili paste recipe that involves that much garlic is pretty much made for Sarahs.
Isaac: I think my friend Kristin coined my breakfasts the “Espresso-Banana Smiley”. I hadn’t noticed it til someone mentioned it and now I always see a face there. When I have an orange for breakfast, the face looks surprised and shocked to me. :D
I just ate here for the first time tonight, after having wanted to eat there for ages. It was even better than I thought it’d be. I got the soba/scallops and the squash dumplings (even sans bacon, they were the best thing I’ve eaten in a long time). If you haven’t had it, the basil broth that comes with the soba dish is perfect! Perfectly balanced. Deliciously…almost licorice-like. No nuanced and special. LOVED it. Such a good experience.