Hello dear reader

Have you ever heard of the film “Tampopo” – It’s how I discovered my Love affair with noodle soup. Today I want to share with you my interest in noodle soups and street kitchens and why I love sharing my experiences with you.

To truly understand my passion I need to take you back to my childhood, as a child, I was very interested in food – at the age of 8, I was already starting to cook and try dishes for myself in mums kitchen – not everything was a success in taste, but from those small failings came some great knowledge and a lot of fun.

Where to find a good pizza or where to eat delicious Asian food was just as important decades ago as it is today – but restaurant tips back then were only passed on orally or through journals. So, it took much longer for people to appreciate it and potentially by the time they did know, the tastes or ownership may have changed.

With foodadvisor.de or tools like TripAdvisor, Google Maps, Holyday Check etc. I now have the right platforms to do this on a larger scale and fast. Finding great food experiences which are close to your location makes some tools unique and even I have benefited from your recommendations when in new destinations.

Back In the nineties I discovered by chance the Japanese film Tampopo – from that moment my interest for Asian noodle soups was awakened. The film follows a series of satirical storylines, but for me, the question it truly asked was – “What does it take to create a great noodle soup” – which I found fascinating.

It was all about the individual ingredients, such as what noodle – the meat, the cooking times, the spices, the vegetables, the herbs, the sauces, the right temperature and even whether you should “petting” the pork before eating it.

At that time there was no talk of textures – only about the authentic flavours of the soup. To understand how a real noodle soup master created his soup the neighbouring business was the place to spy on his kitchen through an opening in the wall to get the secrets … if you have the opportunity to watch this movie – do it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampopo).

From that moment on, I have cooked a myriad of noodle soups countless times, and wherever my journeys take me, I have always tried the noodle soups offered.

In September 2018, I’ve started to be part of the Google localguides community. Since then I used in addition to foodadvisor.de every opportunity to add good noodle soup kitchens to that app.

I think it’s great that I have the ability to recommend very small, usually not easy to find places with Google Maps (and this is usually the case with most soup kitchens, especially in Asia) so that you can instantly find them through your mobile device.

In my public Google Maps list “Erik`s Steetkitchen Plus“, I have made most of the highlights I’ve encountered in terms of noodle soups, street kitchens and small Asian restaurants available to you at a glance.

Most of the street kitchens I’ve visited and reviewed are a long way from places where tourists are staying – unfortunately, there are often only a few locals who bother sharing their opinions and photos – hence sometimes there are only a few reviews of some of my “discovered places”, but believe me I would not bother to create a place and write a detailed review if I didn’t really have a special culinary experience – especially with noodle soup!

It also gives me great pleasure to photograph the food for you – you can describe a lot, but a great photo tells a thousand words and creates the desire to just want to “visit this place” once.

I have found the best noodle soup so far at J Nong in Thailand – in the village of Chumphuang near Korat.

J Nong street kitchen (https://goo.gl/maps/hvyBaLCxxMTCzkf88), is a place located in the heart of Thailand, where you can taste some excellent and authentic noodle soup.

English is not spoken here and it is very rare to meet foreigners, but every day hundreds of Thais eat here their noodle soup – Kuatiu Nahm (Kuatiu = rice noodle, Nahm = water) is the most popular.

This traditional rice noodle soup, which has its roots in China has reached almost every Asian country with Chinese migrant workers – at J Nong it is offered with pork or duck – I recommend you to try the duck version.

The soup itself is freshly prepared daily in a large pot and contains bone marrow, all sorts of spices, coriander roots and much more – every soup kitchen has its secret. It takes a while for the stock base to finish – but in the early morning, the first locals in J Nong sit in front of their soups ready to start their day.

When ordering, you first choose the size of the soup (Laotian pizet, means big) … then whether it should be fine, small or large rice noodles – whether you want pig, duck, offal, pork or Chinese meatballs – these are big decisions.

Some people love their Kuatiu in Nahmtok style – that version comes from Ayutthaya near Bangkok and it contains some blood from the pig, which makes the soup softer and a bit sweeter.

The final seasoning is given to each soup at the table by you – for this there is always freshly roasted coarse chilli, sugar, vinegar essence, fish sauce, Sriracha sauce, grated peanut and sometimes Sambal Oelek and of course fresh chopped spring onions.

What should never be missing – of course only for those who love it – is coriander. Let them put a few freshly chopped stems of it into your soup – from my point of view that gives the decisive kick.

However, when it comes down to what makes a great noodle soup the key is always the base – cooked too fast and carelessly, the soup cannot bring a smile to your face!

Enough said – after writing this post I now cannot wait for my next cup of Kuatiu Nahm…

Enjoy!

Oh yeah – I forgot – if you visit J Nong, you should order a Nahm Katjep (Cold Wild Rosella Flower Drink), you will love it!