Vegan Thai noodle soup stock (nam sup weegan – น้ำซุปวีแกน)
Along with congee, noodle soup is high on my breakfast want list, and hence I routinely have a batch of stock to hand. This is a basic stock suitable for kuaytiaw nam sai, arguably the most uncomplicated Thai noodle soup of the vast national repertoire. Next to Mama noodles, that is.
Ingredients
- 3 litres water
- 330 grams daikon cut into chunks
- 1 piece corn cob
- 3-4 leaves Chinese cabbage
- 35 grams dried shiitake mushrooms (6-8 pieces)
- 1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground rock sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large coriander roots (or ¼ cup roughly chopped coriander stems), pounded lightly with the back of a heavy knife
- 2 cloves garlic (large), peeled and smashed
- 1 scant teaspoon white peppercorns
Instructions
- Add everything to a large stock pot and bring to the boil. You can make a sort of bouquet garni for the coriander, garlic, and peppercorns with a piece of muslin, but this is optional (just tidier on straining). Turn the heat to low and simmer for 45-60 minutes with the lid on. I use the lowest setting on my burner.
- Turn the heat off and leave to cool. Strain and refrigerate. Squeeze the excess stock from the mushrooms and muslin. Don't bin the mushrooms (see notes below). You can also freeze this stock.
Notes
Additional resources:
- Thai soy sauce primer
- You can buy rock sugar at just about any Chinese grocer. Failing that, use unbleached cane sugar.
- You can save the daikon to eat in the noodle soup.
- Save the mushrooms! You can use them to make the braised mushrooms in my recipe for jok (Thai congee).