Rice Noodle Soup with Soft-Boiled Egg

Today I rode my bike to the market near my house. I planned to make curry, but when I was walking around the aisle, I found packs of ride noodle displayed on the wooden table of a seller. The seller is a young woman, perhaps she’s 30 something. The market was not as packed as usual because most people are fasting. Yet, some seller open their booths until 4 P.M, so that people who are not fasting or those who want to make iftar dinner can buy fresh food. I love walking aimlessly in the market, just to found out ibu-ibu ngobrol sambil petan-petanan (nyari kutu), but there are only few sellers there today. I got back home. It was 12.18 in the afternoon, not a good time to go out since it’s too humid and hot outside. But, I just woke up at 10.30. What’s a girl to do?

At home, I remembered my deadline, those for the magazine and translation. *sigh* but, I’m hungraaay. So, I guess, I’d make myself a rice noodle before doing my job. The kitchen at my house is in the backside, near jemuran and small garden where I’m trying to grow a papaya tree. I turned on the tv which is apparently a bad choice. So, I turned it off and played some music. I didn’t know which song I should play, but I came out with Lydia Lunch and there you go…

First, let’s prepare for the vegetable stock. You will need:

1 to 2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 to 3 carrots
3 to 4 celery stalks
1 bay leaf
1 lime leaf
1 tea spoon of dried thyme (I wish I could find fresh thyme)
1 tea spoon of dried parsley (nah, I couldn’t find the fresh one too!)
PS: You can add tomato, mushroom, other vegetables, and herbs too!

Then, let’s do the work!

1. Chop the vegetables (You can add the onion skin also! Just chop it roughly, cuz our life is a rough one too, right? hehe)
2. Put some water in (until it’s enough to cover the ingredients) and cook for an hour (heat in medium to low, slowly)
3. Remove the vegetables, pour the stock into a storage container, let it cool, and put them in fridge!

Now, for the rice noodle, you’ll need a soft boiled egg (cook them 6 minutes in boiling water, then put it in cold water for 10 minutes, and peel it), mushroom, spinach, and a box of rice noodle. It usually comes out in dried form, so you should put it in water first for 5 minutes.
1. After the rice noodle is ready, boil it in the pot of stock vegetable (I use 350 ml of stock vegetable), together with mushroom and spinach
2. Cook for 4 minutes and tadaaaah….
3. Serve it in your favorite bowl, garnish with the tempting soft-boiled egg!




I enjoyed this rice noodle while watching the falling Greece's economy in TV in a hot longest afternoon I had been through this week.

Good, now I forget my deadlines.