INTRO to the noodle soup series:

I love noodle soup! It’s the only type of food that I can eat repeatedly for 3 meals a day for 3 days in a row. In general, I do not like eating the same dish twice hence I’m terrible with eating leftovers for my lunch at work (that’s where my boyfriend comes in :p). Even with my Chinese rice staple, I prefer to not eat it twice in a row. I think I might be Vietnamese in my past life since I’m constantly being mistaken for Vietnamese.

As a dedication for my love of noodle soup, I am making a series of threads on various type of noodle dishes (not necessary noodle soup — but most will be). I’ve compiled at least 20 different noodle dish that I want to experiment with and I’ve started 4 drafts already on what I already made. This happens to be the first post that I finished writing so I hope this will lead the way.

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PHNOM PENH NOODLE SOUP, the noodle soup of Cambodia, is a chicken and pork stock soup plus dried seafood to give it a distinct taste profile and served with a variety of seafood and meat. You will find many version of this noodle dish from soup stock base to toppings but the overall idea is it is light (hence beef bones is never an ingredient in the stock) since it is served as a breakfast item in Cambodia.

Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is located southeast of the country and is in close proximity with Southern Vietnam being its neighbor, hence this dish is heavily influenced by Southern Vietnamese cuisines as well but who originated this dish is like arguing the chicken or egg came first.

My first official meal in Cambodia was Phnom Penh Noodle and never being exposed to Cambodian food prior to this, I associated it with Vietnamese pho.

I arrived into Cambodia all by myself for the first time in my travel history as a volunteer for a medical mission (nonreligious). Prior to this trip, Cambodia was not on my radar at all. I haven’t met up with anyone I know of yet, hence being alone in a foreign country for the first time has its moments of searching for familiarity. Kind of like an immigrant who moved to a new country searches for familiar phenomenon that they recognize in order to comfort them and allow them to slowly assimilate into their new environments. I was that immigrant at this very early morning on the streets of Cambodia as I venture on my own self-tour.

I’m not Vietnamese, but in America, Vietnamese pho in the cities is not a foreign dish. Many people from all ethnicity calls it a comfort food. It has never been so true for me than this moment. As I eat my first bite into Cambodian food, curious of what this cuisine entails of, it brought on a sense of comfort because it reminded me of pho back at home in America (lol yeah, pho reminded me of America not Vietnam). After that meal, I know I can come to adapt to Cambodia for the 2 weeks that I’m here.

[On a side note, this is actually not the first time that pho served as a connecting gateway for me in a foreign country. Back in 2010 when I traveled to Taiwan for a 2 week trip, finding pho one week into our trip was like godsend! It was spiritually calming to eat pho for the very same reason I mentioned above. Now in case you don’t know, I”m Chinese. Thinking back to these 2 experiences, I would think I’ll have an easier time in Taiwan than in Cambodia since Taiwan people is Chinese indeed. Having similar culture however does not necessary mean easier adaptation. Memory of home is key to connection and adaptation. Taiwan food was very different than my home Chinese food.]

I have very fond memory of the Phnom Penh noodle soup. I ate it everyday where my hotel served it for free for breakfast and you could add whatever topping you want: duck, chicken, or shrimp. Since it was free, it was very simple but very delicious. The actual one you eat at a restaurant will come with a mixture of meat and seafood with herbs. As I finished my trip to Cambodia, my final impression on Cambodian cuisine is that it is a fusion of Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese food. I couldn’t really pinpoint a unique characteristic. I compared this to my knowledge of what we call Singapore food — it’s a fusion of Chinese and Malaysian food or American food — a fusion of every culture you can imagine.

As I did more research on this noodle soup, I have noticed a distinct flavor profile in this dish. Beside using a mixture of chicken and pork bones as its soup base, it also contains some dried seafood flavor like dried shrimp and dried squid (but I used dried conch) to give it a different umami flavor like the Korean uses anchovies, the Japanese uses bonito and/or kelp, the Chinese uses chicken and/or pork, and the Vietnamese uses beef and/or pork. My brother called it my “best yet” thus it must be good. 🙂

As you read the ingredients below, there are items that are listed as optional which I did not utilize but is what I see used commonly in the authentic noodle soup.

SOUP STOCK

1) BOIL meat bones in boiling water for 10 minutes. Then throw out water and rinse bones clean.

1 lb chicken bones or 2 whole chicken carcass

1 lb Pork neck bones

Put cleaned bones back into clean stock pot. Add water and the rest of the ingredients.

12 cups water

1 piece dried conch (or dried squid or dried scallop)

¼ cup dried shrimp, soaked in warm water and drained

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 yellow onion, cut in half and charred

1 small finger size piece fresh ginger root

1 to 2 star anise

1 tbsp preserved radish (or preserved shredded cabbage for authenticity)

2) BOIL stock then simmer on low heat for 3 hours. Drain soup. Save the dried conch to serve later — it is still tasty and chewy. If the pork bones are still intact and not falling apart as you remove them, then the meat might still be tasty to serve with the noodle soup.

3) SEASON the broth heavily with the following to taste:

1 teaspoon sugar (minimal)

1 lemon juice or lime juice to taste

1/4 cup fish sauce and add more to taste (heavy)

4) COOK noodles according to package instructions

Vietnamese medium rice vermicelli or pho noodles aka rice sticks (traditionally pho noodles –I tried both. I actually like the vermicelli more though)

4) ASSEMBLE other serving ingredients.

Serving ideas –put all the ingredients on the side in individual bowls and let people assemble their own bowl — just keep the broth simmering hot:

1 package cuttlefish balls or fish balls or beef balls (or mix and match)

1 lb shrimp, deveined, deshelld, and cooked

½ lb pork liver, sliced and cooked (optional)

1/2 lb fatty pork, simmer in the broth for 30 minutes then remove. Slice it diagonally, then season with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and black pepper and 1 tbsp fish sauce.

1 Small yellow onion, slices thin

5 Stalks green onion ,chopped

1 zucchini, julienne thickly

1 lb little neck or cherry stones clams, cooked and deshelled

1 lb squid, cut into bite-size pieces (opt)

fried shallots

cilantro

thai basil

mint

bean sprouts, raw

lime or lemon slices

siracha sauce (opt)

hoi sin sauce (opt)

roasted duck (opt)

roasted chicken (opt)

6) Let people assemble their own bowl of noodles and meat and condiments then ladle hot broth over it.