Prawn Noodle Soup
Rice vermicelli, dried shrimp, and a bouillon broth. Twelve minutes from cold water to dinner.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 154
- protein
- 21 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 700 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Chicken or vegetable bouillon | 2 cubes | crush them so they dissolve faster |
|---|---|---|
| Rice vermicelli | 3.5 oz | the thin kind, snapped into thirds |
| Dried shrimp | 1/3 cup | Asian grocery, no refrigeration needed |
| Dried Asian greens | 1/2 cup | freeze-dried bok choy, cabbage, or a slaw mix |
| Dried chili flakes | 1/2 tsp | more if you want it |
| Granulated garlic and ground ginger | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Soy sauce packets | 2 | |
| Lime powder or a lime wedge | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sesame oil | 2 tsp | small dropper bottle |
Method
- Bring 700 ml of water to a boil with the bouillon, dried shrimp, garlic, ginger, and chili. Let it run at a low boil for three minutes so the shrimp start to soften and give up their flavor.
- Drop the heat to a bare simmer. Add the vermicelli and the dried greens and stir to keep the noodles from clumping.
- Simmer five to six minutes. The noodles should be soft all the way through and the greens should have gone back to something like leaves.
- Kill the stove. Stir in the soy sauce, lime, and sesame oil. Add a splash more water if it has gone thick on you.
- Eat straight from the pot, or split it into two mugs.
The original is a moto-camping recipe built on frozen wontons, which is fine if you have a cooler and a grocery store that morning. Off the freezer, the wontons are the first thing to go. Dried shrimp do the same job: they carry the same brine-and-shellfish flavor, weigh almost nothing, and keep for months in a bag.
The order matters more than the ingredients. Shrimp and bouillon go in first and boil hard, because dried shrimp need a few minutes of real heat to release anything. Noodles and greens go in after, at a simmer, because rice vermicelli turns to paste if you boil it. Rehydrating the greens in the broth instead of separately means the water they soak up is water you already seasoned.
Packing
Everything dry except the oil goes in one bag: bouillon, shrimp, greens, and spices in a small bag nested inside the noodle bag so the noodles do not shatter into powder. Sesame oil and soy packets ride in a side pocket.
Variations
- Swap in a foil packet of tuna or chicken at the end if dried shrimp are hard to find.
- Ramen or instant noodle bricks work in place of vermicelli. Cut the boil to two minutes.
- A spoonful of miso paste stirred in off the heat replaces the bouillon and adds body.
https://www.advrider.com/prawn-wonton-soup