All-time Comfort: Lao Chicken Noodle Soup

Just when I start rambling about how beautiful the weather's been, Mother Nature throws me a curve ball and beckons the rain and clouds on me.  Good one, Mother. So, rainy days call for homemade culinary remedies.

It's one of those dishes that really soothes my soul and makes me just want to curl up with a good book and slurp away on the confines of my plush couch enveloped with a warm throw. It conjures up images of cold, rainy days when all I want is to sip something warm and hearty.  It reminds me of days when I feel blue and under the weather and how mom always used to ask what I wanted to eat, knowing full well what my answer would be: Lao chicken noodle soup, please. Homemade goodness that rings true to my heart.

The rice noodles are handmade and rolled out onto a sheet before being sliced thinly and then dipped in the a bubbling, savory chicken ginger broth (which, too, is homemade).  I sprinkle my soup with a drizzling of chili-garlic oil that my mom made along with some crispy fried garlic (the aroma is out of this world!) and  freshly-ground black pepper.  The result is just heavenly.

My mother taught me the art of cooking by making me watch her do it in the kitchen.  She never believed in writing down her recipes b/c she felt that the only way you could learn was to watch and then do.  I carried on this tradition until now when I started blogging b/c I realize that many of us are in different parts of the world and frankly, I can't fit all of you in my kitchen (as much as I would love to). 

The recipe is simple enough, but you'll have to wait for it as I'll need to roll out another batch of noodles to get the proper measurements.  Most of the time, I eyeball my mixture, but recently, the results haven't been as consistent as I've hoped it would be.  For now, enjoy the pictures as I'm sure it'll bring back warm memories of your own comforting remedy.  Which leads me to wonder: What's yours?