Description
At her Noodles Fresh restaurants in El Cerrito and Berkeley, Wenyan Peterson uses pickled mustard greens and other pickled vegetables to add distinction to dishes. Her in-house pickling takes place in large ceramic vessels under the restaurant’s bar, where sun-dried long beans, broccoli stems, peppers, and other vegetables ferment year round in a water brine with around 3.5% salt and slightly more sugar.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces rice noodles
- 10 ounces chicken broth
- Si-chuan-style chili paste to taste
- Soy sauce (or salt) to taste
- Sugar to taste
- 2–4 ounces minced pork (belly meat preferred)
- 2 ounces Chou-zhou-style pickled mustard, chopped
- 2 ounces Si-chuan-style pickled string beans, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 2 ounces tofu puffs* (optional)
- Chopped fresh scallion and sesame oil and for garnish
Instructions
Cook rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and add cooked noodles to serving bowls.
Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot. Add chili paste, soy sauce, and sugar to your preferred balance of these three flavors.
Sauté minced pork in a skillet until browned and add to the broth along with the chopped pickled mustard and string beans and the (optional) tofu puffs. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
Pour soup over noodles and garnish with chopped fresh scallion and a few drops of sesame oil.
- Category: Soups and Stews
