Noodle soup weather

Did I mention the hubster loves a mean bowl of Pho? And basically all things noodle soup. Seeing as how it was still cold and rainy here in Southern California, I decided to oblige and make a noodle soup - it wasn't going to be Pho, as I would like a good 2-4 hours at least for that, I went with Banh Canh (which I would literally translate as dough soup, or in this case, noodle soup). 

Prep and cooking time: roughly 1 hour

We are going with a pork-based broth. I picked up about 2 pounds of pork neck bones (since it's pretty cheap and has enough meat and bone to get a decent pork stock) and a pound of pork butt (again because it was cheap... what can I say - economy). I had the butcher guy cut up the neck bone and added all of it to a pot of water. While the bone and the broth was doing it's thing, I chopped up the pork butt into bite-size pieces (easier to do it now than later, plus it saves some cooking time)... yes, after a moment I realized that I seriously needed to trim the fat off the meat. Don't worry, I did... well... most of it, anyway.

 After about 20 minutes, I decided to add the meat and onions to the pot. The meat off the neck bones should be cooked at this point, so while the other meat and the onions were cooking, it would give time for the neck bone meat to become more tender. Don't forget to continually scoop out the yucky foamy stuff that accumulates at the top of the pot.  

After you know the meat is fully cooked (about another 15 minutes should be good), taste the broth. Hopefully it is porky. At this point, I start seasoning to taste. Which for this particular noodle soup for me will consist of fish sauce and some black pepper. How much fish sauce I put in, I'm not sure. I just start dousing the pot with it and taste as I go along. If fish sauce isn't up your alley, salt's the same thing. I'm strangely Vietnamese when it comes to using fish sauce (which is also ironic because I don't eat fish). As far as brand, I'm not tied to any in particular, but I typically choose one that has the words "phu quoc" on it. I don't know why.

Make sure the broth is a little bit stronger than you care for, because when you add the noodles, it will bland it out just a bit. So meat's all ready and broth is to your liking? Fresh noodles is always best but since it was after work and getting pretty late, I just bought pre-made noodles.

 

After the noodles soften, it's ready. Maybe 5-10 minutes. Scoop the noodles, meat and broth into your bowl...

And garnish with bean sprouts, chopped green onions and cilantro, and add extra flavor with dried chili in oil... to your taste of course!