Sunday Soup #77: Hot & Sour Glass Noodle Soup

Boy #1 (Hunter) and I were geographical bachelors this weekend, as my wife took our youngest to a marching band event in SoCal. And, when me and Hunter are by ourselves, we like to try soups that are either heavily Asian-influenced or contain seafood (because Becky and Fox don't usually love either of those two flavors). I let Hunter pick the recipe to make, and this was the one he picked out... So, let's see how it went!

This recipe came from: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/hot-sour-glass-noodle-soup/

*Pic 1 - https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/hot-sour-glass-noodle-soup/

Variations from Recipe as Written: I doubled the recipe, but ended up using half chicken broth because it is what I had on hand. So, my version was not strictly vegetarian, even though the original recipe is 100% veggie-compliant (vegan, in fact, as I used vegan maifun rice noodles).

General Thoughts: This soup was quite easy to prepare... Boil water, soak noodles, sauté garlic and ginger, add more stuff, a little more simmering, add some more stuff, and that was it! I did use pre-julienned carrots, so that helped, but it really felt like a snap. From start of prep to soup in bowl, it couldn't have taken more than 30 minutes overall.

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when I made it

The first thing I noticed was that this was not a "traditional" hot and sour soup (i.e., not what you'd expect to get at a Chinese food restaurant), but the recipe author fully acknowledged that up front, so that shouldn't have been a surprise. And, it was not necessarily a bad thing... The lime juice and the ginger gave it a nice sour bite, and the sambal oelek and garlic provided the heat I was looking for, more or less. The mushrooms were tasty, if a little bit rubbery in some bites (but, hey, they're shiitakes, so they naturally tend that direction), and the carrots provided a nice splash of color, but didn't add much to the taste. The noodles turned out to be perfectly done and really just soaked up the flavor of the broth in the soup.

All of that was good, obviously, but this one did have some things that failed to completely hook me... First, the snap peas... I didn't love them. Their texture and taste were different enough from the rest of the soup that it just seemed out of place. I get it... Snap peas are a staple in some Asian dishes, and they added some nice color, but they just didn't do it for me here. Also, the soup needed a protein of some type to really bring it home. It could be tofu (to keep it veggie), but some chicken (thinly sliced) or jumbo shrimp would have done the job as well. Without it, this soup falls into the category of solid Asian appetizer/pre-dinner soup course, rather than featured meal.

Potential Improvements? This one definitely has potential... Next time, I think I'd use a different variety of mushroom (maybe some sliced portobello) that would be a little more tender, even though that changes the Asian profile of the dish. I would greatly decrease the snap peas (or maybe forget them entirely), and consider replacing them with some shelled edamame? I'd go for some protein, like jumbo shrimp. And, finally, I consider a tablespoon of sesame oil in the pot.

Polling the Fam: Hunter and I were solidly at the 3.5/5 stars point with this one, but I don't do half stars. In the end, I'd make this one again, particularly with the changes above, but it in its current state it isn't one I am super excited about. Solid, but not "wow"... Hunter felt the same.

Verdict: It was okay. (3 stars)