Friday, October 06, 2006

Split Pea 'n Ham Soup

Photo: Quyen's Split Pea and Ham Soup with fresh thyme

I grew up in a Vietnamese household eating mostly homemade Vietnamese food with the occasional spaghetti with meat sauce or hamburgers. I'm not complaining at all, and in fact, my mom is quite the inspiration in the kitchen. However, I'd never tasted the likes of Campbell's Split Pea and Ham Soup EVER. Chicken noodle...maybe. Well, today I popped my split pea, and I'm never going back.

The best part about this soup is that it's so cheap, and it goes a looooooong way. My peas cost $1. That's 7.75 Rand. Or 1.58 Singapore Dollars. Or 50.3 Afghanistan Afghanis. It's manic. And the ham only cost $5.

Anyway, it's so good. I feel like I've really now just arrived in America. Oh wait, I was born here. It reminds me of Sam's gramma's house in southern Virginia, where we fish, hike, and shoot guns. Good times.

Back to the soup, though. It did take nearly 4 hours to make, but it was worth it. I tried drizzling in a little balsamic vinegar to contrast with the richness of the soup. Delicious. You can also try lemon. Drop a little acid. Go ahead. It's OK. Just a little.

I think I was hallucinating last night because my herbs smelled like weed and my carrots like cocaine. Weird.

OK, I'm going to make yellow cupcakes dressed in chocolate rum buttercream frosting.

Wish you could have a bite,
Quyen

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