The art of seasoning - A beginner's guide by a beginner



My regular breakfast, more or less, is a bowl of noodles soup. It usually contains noodles (duh), which come in about three types (Not colon on this keyboard) thin, broad and something in between, a few vegetables, meat, tofu and some broth. The broth is rather tasteless, mostly boiled water. So here drops in the seasoning. Before starting to eat the soup is seasoned and tasted to perfection (ok, to a better taste). Therefore here's a short guide for dummies about what I know. Other than that, the best thing is to go to a locals' stall and eat with them, watching what they do. I once saw a woman having a soup with a totally different color than mine.

The options are
Fish sauce - Made in Thailand, usually with a squid photo on it.
Soy sauce
Chilly sauce - Sometimes even two, a mild version and a sweet version (the one you usually eat with spring rolls)
Sugar, salt
Dry chilly powder
A nasty smelling fish paste - Don't even think about it
Piece of limes
Live chillies - Handle with care! Yesterday I accidentally touched one of my eyes about half an hour after finishing the soup and I couldn't use that eye for next half hour.
Greens - Lettuce, beans and mint leaves.

The tools for slurping the soup are a pair of chopsticks and a spoon.
Bonn Appetite!