Moreover Soup. How To Take Mediocre And Make Souperior.

 Rosie has been on an Asian bender lately

and she's enjoying it immensely.

Mr. Hawthorne and I are working our way through

 Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook,

much to our culinary delight.

 Recently, Mr. Hawthorne made
 Mrs. Chiang's zhurou huanggua tang,

or Pork and Cucumber Soup.

 Notice the thin, anorexic broth.

We had about 2 cups leftover.

After I tasted Mrs. Chiang's Pork and Cucumber Soup,
I thought it was missing something.
After all, the broth was merely water.
I went back to the book to check it out
and found that Mr. Hawthorne failed
to prepare the stuffed WONTONS to go in the soup.
Wontons filled with shrimp, pork,
spinach, scallions, and soy sauce. 

That certainly would have worked,
but by itself, the Pork and Cucumber Soup needed
some life injected into it.

If something isn't quite right,
I don't want to throw it out.
I want to fix it.
Most times, there's always a fix.

Enter my gelatinous mass
of marrow-flavored and spiced pho broth.

If you haven't made your own pho bo
(pronounced phu),
you're missing out on one of the great joys of life.

 It's jiggly.
This comes from the collagen extracted
from the slowly simmered bones.
It's extra-rich.

 About a cup of pho went into
 Mr. Hawthorne's Pork and Cucumber Soup.

 I washed out the pho container
and poured every bit of goodness back into the pot.

 I found a pork loin in the freezer

which I thinly sliced.

 I brought the two broths to a boil,

then added the pork.

Let the pork cook for maybe a minute.
Turn off heat and ladle into bowls.

  I chopped basil, cilantro, mint,

dried red pepper, scallions.

 Top with the basil, cilantro, mint, scallions, and red pepper.

The Pho breathed new life into the Pork and Cucumber Soup.