Phnom Penh Koo Tiew
a Cambodian soup
— Sharon Blender, mom to Adam, adopted from Cambodia

* Makes a 4-quart pot

A pork or beef soup bone, or meat with cartilage
6-8 cups water
2 slices dried or fresh galangal
3 stars star anise
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/8 - ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cans chicken broth
3 bay leaves and salt to taste
1 tsp. Viet Huong fish sauce
¼ cup chopped lemongrass leaves
½ white or yellow onion
¼ pounds chopped cooked chicken breast and/or
¼ pounds peeled shrimp and/or mixed seafood and/or
¼ pound cooked ground pork

Garnish:
Bean sprouts
Fresh cilantro leaves
Hoisin sauce
Lime juice
Garlic chili sauce
Chopped green onions
Package of Bahn Pho noodles or thin Asian egg noodles

To Make:
Boil the soup bone or meat in water for an hour. Slice the onion into several slices and roast it in the oven until the edges turn brown and the onion seems limp. Add the onion to the boiling pot after about 30-minutes. Then add the chicken broth, galangal, star anise, sugar, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, salt, fish sauce and lemongrass leaves. Cook another 30 minutes. Cook noodles separately from broth, drain and put aside. Immediately before serving, add meats to broth. The galangal, bay leaves, lemongrass leaves, star anise are not eaten, so remove them before serving. Put one servings worth of noodles in each empty dish before pouring the broth and meats over top. Garnish each serving immediately with 10-15 bean sprouts, 5-6 fresh cilantro leaves, 5-6 fresh diced lemon balm leaves, add hoisin sauce to taste, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce and ½ tablespoon chopped green onions.