mohinga!

Since I think of food disproportionately compared to other people, this little monologue might seem a little bizarre. I usually sit around and come up with cravings which can only be satisfied by cooking up that particular dish since I'm usually nowhere close to a restaurant of that cuisine.

So, in the past week or so I was thinking abou Mohinga which is a Burmese curry fish noodle soup. Although in Burma it's served as a breakfast soup, I tend to eat it for lunch and dinner.

It really depends how much soup you want to eat. Here's a recipe for about four to six people.

2 lb firm white fish (catfish, bass)
2 t yellow curry powder
1 t turmeric
1 inch of ginger smashed
1 large onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 t shrimp paste (if you have it)
4 c fish broth or veggie broth
1/2 can coconut milk (7 oz total)
1/2 can of bamboo shoots
1/2 small head of cabbage finely sliced

2 t Cooking oil

Egg noodles or fresh pasta egg noodles

Garnishes: boiled eggs, peeled and quartered, lemon wedges, chopped coriander, and chopped green onion, and fried onion bits.

Depending on whether you plan to use dried pasta noodles or fresh, start a large pot of water boiling for the pasta (cook according to directions), and boil eggs (10 minutes after boil begins). In a large pot heat cooking oil over medium high heat and add the onion and garlic and saute until transparent. Then, add the curry powder and the shrimp paste and continue to fry for another minute. Add cabbage and continue to saute. When cabbage is softened add the broth, coconut milk, turmeric, clump of ginger and bamboo shoots. Bring soup to a boil and then simmer for 30-45 minutes, depending on how long you can bear to wait for the soup to finish. In the last 5 minutes add the fish fillets. When they are cooked, take them out of the soup and flake them and put back into the soup.

In noodle soup bowls place noodles, then soup, and garnish with boiled egg wedges, cilantro and green onion, and squeeze the lemon slices into the soup.

This soup gets better the next day ...