If you are not suffering from a cold this winter, you're probably suffering from the cold. One of the important tools in fighting either is a bowl-sized dose of steamy, brothy soup – preferably with noodles in it.
A big bowl of beef pho is ideal. The broth is light but full of flavor, the noodles slip easily down a sore throat and the flavor of the fresh herbal garnishes come through even if your nose is completely stuffed up. By the time you've spooned up the last bit of the soup, your head feels clearer, your achy body soothed.
It seems odd that such a potent cold cure comes from a country that has no winter at all. It's not the only hot and humid Asian country that puts out a great cold cure; so do Japan and Korea and China, where it can get just as cold as here.
Here are some of the best Asian soups you can find in Greater Cincinnati to treat yourself this time of year.
Ramen is not only an obsession among traditional Japanese cooks, but also for Western chefs who want to pack the highest possible amount of flavor they can into one bowl. Quan Hapa has a magnificent version, with pork belly and a poached egg, shiso microgreens, browned garlic and those funny pink-spiraled fish cakes that often decorate Japanese soups. Or try the mushroom vegetarian version. Slurp and be healed.
1331 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-421-7826, www.quanhapa.com
Korea has brutal winters, so it's not surprising Korean cuisine has a large variety of hot, often spicy soups to warm you up through and through. Sometimes they come to the table hissing and sizzling in a bowl carved out of volcanic rock. There are many of these, often full of seafood, at Riverside Korean Restaurant in Covington. They also serve this much simpler soup that's meant to cure your ills. They call it healthy soup and there's a whole game hen in there, stuffed with ginseng, along with Chinese dates (jujubes), pine nuts and rice.
512 Madison Ave, Covington, 859-291-1484, www.RiversideKoreanRestaurant.com
Pho is a highly personal and regional thing; every restaurant has a different way of making the broth. Some are heavily scented with Chinese five-spice mixture; others more subtly. There are a limited number of Vietnamese restaurants in town, so try them all and find your favorite. I love what they serve at Le's Pho and Sandwich Shop Downtown. They don't offer the wide and sometimes bewildering variety of kinds of beef that large restaurants do, but I'm happy with meatballs.
3 E. Court St., Downtown, 513-721-9700
Cilantro in Clifton has some variations on pho: their chicken noodle soup is called Hu Tieu, and they also serve sate, which is not the peanut sauce, but a beef broth from owner Darren Phan's mother.
235 W. McMillan, Clifton Heights, 513-281-1732,www.eatatcilantro.com
Many people swear by the pho at Pho Lang Thang in Findlay Market. (Someday I will order and eat a "large" and everything will be cured.) But they also have a delicious beef soup/stew that seems a lot like a pot roast, but has a different, more Asian flavoring. With a baguette to soak up the broth, it's perfect for a frigid day.
114 W. Elder St., Downtown, 513-376-9177, www.pholangthang.com
The most famous Thai soup is tom kai gai, with its appealing collection of sweet, spicy and tangy flavors. Lin's Pad Thai in Westwood serves a fancier variation of that soup, the the tom yam seafood soup. It has shrimp, calamari and scallops as well as the basic combination of coconut milk, lime and gingery galangal.
Lin's Pad Thai, 6155 Glenway Ave., Westwood, 513-661-8080,www.thaifoodcincinnati.com
If you like lots of peppery heat to combat the wintry chill, go with Sichuan soups and hot pots. At Sichuan Chili in Evendale, even dishes that aren't technically soups come in big bowls full of broth. And the broth is full of red hot chili peppers.
10400 Reading Rd., Evendale, 513-376-7223,www.sichualchili.com
Japan has a whole repertoire of brothy noodle soups beyond ramen. This is udon in broth at Ando Japanese restaurant in Blue Ash. The fat noodles are perfect for anyone with a stomach that's feeling delicate, or is too worn out by the cold to chew much. The broth is light and nourishing, and the garnishes are very simple.
Ando, 5889 Pfeiffer Road, Blue Ash, 513-791-8687, www.andojapaneserestaurant.com
