Do you know that each culture has its own broth stories and ancestral recipes? 

And to convince you, Mon Bouillon takes you to Asia... Where you will always find on the menu a dish based on broth and noodles whose titles differ depending on the country.

For example, the Japanese love Dashi (see recipe), a broth made from dried ingredients, but they also offer Ramen .  

In Vietnam, Pho is no longer to be presented (by the way, you will find a delicious recipe for Pho Ga below)

Finally, what about the Thai broth flavored with lemongrass ...!  

And the Chinese? They too have their story with the "noodles that cross the bridge"...  

The origin remains uncertain. The most widespread hypothesis places its origin in Mengzi, during the reign of the Qing dynasty.  

According to legend, a student isolated himself on a small island to prepare for the imperial exams and his wife brought him his meals every day.

Access to the island was via a long bridge and the dishes were always cold when the student received them. But one day when she had prepared chicken soup, she realized that the dish was still hot after the crossing, the chicken fat having kept the dish warm.

From that day on, she got into the habit of preparing chicken broth and bringing the other ingredients, including rice noodles, which she added to the broth after crossing the bridge, so that her husband could eat meals. hot.  

Once the examinations were over, the story of this woman's dedication and ingenuity would have spread and the name 'rice noodles that crosses the bridge' would have become popular and the recipe has of course improved over time.  

But the story doesn't say if the student passed his exams!?

Dashi Express broth recipe (Recipe for 2L of Dashi broth):  

Preparation time - 5min / Cooking time - 1h

Ingredients :  

• 50g dried bonito flakes or 1 packet of flakes  
• 30g kombu seaweed  
• 2L of water (ideally filtered)  

Preparation :

1. Pour the water into a large saucepan. Dip Kombu seaweed in it . Heat for 1 hour uncovered over low heat to maintain the temperature at 60-65°.  
2. Remove the Kombu seaweed from the water, bring to a boil and immediately lower the heat to the lowest setting. Add the bonito flakes to the water and wait for them to sink (this may take a few minutes). Remove them as soon as they hit the bottom of the pan.  
3. Your broth is ready! You can eat it like this or use it as a base for Ramen soup or Miso soup.  

Recipe for Pho Ga from Southern Vietnam (Vietnamese traditional broth with chicken):  

Image source: https://vietnamdecouverte.com/le-pho-vietnamien

Preparation time -10 minutes // Cooking time - 3 to 6 hours

Ingredients :  

• 4 liters of cold water (ideally filtered)  
• 1 whole chicken  
• 1 tablespoon of organic apple vinegar  
• 1 onion  
• 200g whole scampis  
• 2 cinnamon sticks  
• 5 star anise  
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds  
• 1 piece of fresh ginger  
• 3 tablespoons of Nuoc-mâm (Fish sauce)  
• 1 bunch of cilantro  
• 1 bunch of basil (Thai or traditional)  
• 10-15 spring onions  
• 1 packet of bean sprouts  
• 1 lime  
• 1 fresh chilli or red chilli paste ( gochujang )  
• Rice vermicelli  

Preparation :

1. Peel the onion and the ginger. Cut them into pieces. In a wok or large saucepan, sauté until the onion is golden. Add the spices (cinnamon, star anise, coriander seeds) and sauté for about 1 minute then remove from the heat.  
2. In a saucepan, pour the water and add the whole chicken, vinegar, spices, onion, ginger and nuoc-mâm. Bring to a boil and turn the heat to low. Skim and simmer for 4 hours.  
3. Once the time has elapsed, take the chicken out and strain the broth with a colander. Bone the chicken completely and keep the pieces.  
4. Chop all the herbs (coriander, basil, young onions).  
5. Heat the strained broth in a saucepan until it simmers slightly and put on low heat. Add the prawns and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, take out the scampis and reserve them in a bowl.  
6. In the still very hot broth, add a handful of rice noodles for a few minutes until they soften.  
7. Drain and place the vermicelli in the hollow of a plate or bowl with a large handful of bean sprouts. Add crumbled chicken pieces, 3 scampis, young onions and 1 or 2 ladles of broth.  
8. Add to your liking coriander, basil, lime and red pepper,...  

Recipes from the book Le Bouillon d'or by Laurence Fischer & Céline Toucane