ps99472
New member
When Nice Time Deli closed, I lost my only source of mediocre taiwanese food in Irvine. I order their squid potage vermicelli consistently and over the years have adjusted to their taste (at first it was bland compared to the actual thing in Taiwan). So in an ambitious move, I decided to cook my own potage to satisfy my food cravings. Found a recipe online here,
http://brianyarvin.com/nospringchicken/2011/04/thick-soup/
and added some of my own ingredients (cilantro topping, daikon cubes in soup, scoop of satay on top, took out the eggs which is weird). It actually turned out pretty good.
So what is potage? It's actually french for "thick soup". It's basically soup with starch added to make it thick. No cream in the taiwanese version of course. The squid coated with fish cake is premade bought from Ranch 99. The main flavors of the soup are the shiitake mushrooms (I would go easy on this and cut into small pieces which I did not), white ground pepper, and of course the overpowering satay sauce. Texture wise, you get the rice vermicelli and the crunch of bean sprouts. You can sub noodles for the vermicelli but it makes the dish heavier. Next time I would try to make my own squid fish cake as the Ranch 99 version is too soft. It is a hearty soup for those "cold" Irvine nights. Care to share your own culinary adventure from your past?
http://brianyarvin.com/nospringchicken/2011/04/thick-soup/
and added some of my own ingredients (cilantro topping, daikon cubes in soup, scoop of satay on top, took out the eggs which is weird). It actually turned out pretty good.
So what is potage? It's actually french for "thick soup". It's basically soup with starch added to make it thick. No cream in the taiwanese version of course. The squid coated with fish cake is premade bought from Ranch 99. The main flavors of the soup are the shiitake mushrooms (I would go easy on this and cut into small pieces which I did not), white ground pepper, and of course the overpowering satay sauce. Texture wise, you get the rice vermicelli and the crunch of bean sprouts. You can sub noodles for the vermicelli but it makes the dish heavier. Next time I would try to make my own squid fish cake as the Ranch 99 version is too soft. It is a hearty soup for those "cold" Irvine nights. Care to share your own culinary adventure from your past?