Chicken Soup Night

Last night at work, I ordered delivery from Noodies, a neighborhood place that A and I tried for lunch one afternoon back in June. I was in the mood for good soup and remembered how much we liked their noodle soups that day.

I started out with some steamed dumplings, which we also tried last time. (I had actually forgotten we tried these before since I just remembered the mushroom dumplings.)

I liked these dumplings (and am generally a fan of kanom jeeb).  The combination of ground pork and shrimp with crunchy water chestnuts and fried garlic works well.

I also tried a second appetizer - koong pun aoy, something I didn't think I had ever tried before at any Thai restaurant.  The menu described it as "minced shrimp, curry paste, string beans, kaffir lime leaves and sugar cane, served with a sweet and spicy peanut and cucumber relish."  I had no idea what to expect.

\

What it turned out to be was a fried shrimp ball on a stick of sugar cane.  The small pile of salad that came with it (aka the relish) reminded me of the flavors and texture of papaya salad (without the papaya).

The shrimp ball and salad were both good.  The shrimp ball wasn't as crispy as it probably would be at the restaurant, but it had a long, rainy trip to my office.  There were so many flavors in the fried ball along with little pieces of string beans, and I really liked it, especially with the sweet and spicy red sauce.  Not the easiest thing to eat at the office but it was good.

The last time we went to Noodies we tried a beef noodle soup and a shrimp noodle soup.  This time, I was in the mood for chicken soup and ordered the gai toon.  According to the menu, this consisted of thin rice noodles, stewed chicken, braised daikon, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, and goji berries.

I am certain that this would be better at the restaurant. I always forget when ordering noodle soup that the restaurant will usually deliver it to you in pieces so that the noodles don't get soggy and don't fall apart. It's a good and practical method for delivery but you lose some of the great parts of noodle soup from having to combine it yourself right before eating.  But while you may lose some of the textural benefits, a good noodle soup will usually taste just as good when delivered.  This one definitely did.

I loved the complex flavor of the soup, the stewed chicken which fell apart easily, the spices in the broth, the daikon that was soft and comforting, the juicy shiitake mushrooms, the al dente noodles. I'm not sure why the goji berries were included, but since they're healthy and I like them, I have no complaints. I would definitely like to try this at the restaurant one day so I can see what it's like to get it all combined together.

It wasn't a perfect delivery experience - the order took a bit to be confirmed and then they were a little late - but it was a rainy night and I know from experience that they are a small and busy shop.  I definitely recommend a visit.