We combined two soup ideas into one. The first is the concept of a hot and sour soup, one of my favorites to order at a Chinese restaurant because of the spiciness and sourness. The second is actually how I like to eat pho in a restaurant. I especially like the platter on the side that contains branches of thai basil, stalks of cilantro, mint, lime wedges, thinly sliced shallots and red jalapenos. I make a sauce dish with about half hoisin sauce and half sriracha to dip the meat or noodles into before eating.
The real motivation for the dish is what I call, "making something out of nothing"-------one of our most popular dishes on the menus is the soy-braised shortribs. We can serve it after it's braised in a rustic presentation, or we can fuss over it and refine it, which usually means cutting nice rectangular pieces from it, which produces by-product: the ends and trimmings. This is perfect for this soup, because the sweetness in the meat is just enough for the sourness and spiciness, it's not sweet at all, and it is all tempered into one flavor.
Look for us to do a pop-up restaurant one day in the Pineapple Room. We want to do our version of a noodle shop, and this will be on the menu.