When I was working in Malaysia, aeons ago, I jokingly told a Chinese colleague that all Chinese food was bland. He invited me to breakfast the next morning – and offered me Hokkien mee soup. I must confess that I was literally in tears, my nose was running and I was sweating profusely. But I really enjoyed the experience and the dish. Since then, I have been hankering to have a noodle soup for breakfast – though not as ‘hot’ as the Hokkien mee. Though I requested Hari several times, he just could not understand how anyone could have a soup for breakfast! I finally convinced him that a wholesome bowl of soup noodles is indeed a complete breakfast. He finally relented last week!

Ingredients
To Be Ground
2 cloves garlic
1/2″ piece of ginger
1 large onion
For The Soup
1 firm tofu, cubed
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (I just used white vinegar since I did not have apple cider vinegar at hand)
Vegetables of your choice (I used 1 carrot, cut into strips, 1 green capsicum, cut into strips, 100 gms French beans, sliced thin diagonally and a handful of blanched bean sprouts).
800 ml water
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
Rice vermicelli for two servings (I used the brown one) – soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
Method
Grind the ingredients mentioned under “To Be Ground”
Heat a wok and add the ground ingredients
Roast till they are fragrant
Add the tofu and mix well
Once the tofu is cooked, add water and bring to a slow simmer
Add in the soy sauce
Check for salt and supplement, if necessary
Pour in the vinegar and add the vegetables
Let it simmer for 2 minutes or till the vegetables are cooked
Drain and add the vermicelli
Continue cooking till the vermicelli is cooked
Turn of flame and transfer to a serving bowl
Serve hot
Enjoy!