Soupsong Redux
great lunch on a rainy day in Paris
Hole-in-the-wall Edokko in a high rent district
Poor old soupsong.com. It’s been flat on its back for over 2 years now, while I’ve been painting the town rouge in Paris. “Get off your derrière, Mom,” says daughter Meg. “What the world needs now is soupe. You get your act together and I’ll take it from there, tech/design wise.”
Pretty irresistible, administering the soup cure to the soup site. Just what I was telling my chere amie Christine this week on rue du Faubourg St. Honore over a bowl of…wakame udon. There we were at hole-in-the-wall Edokko, set akimbo to the Louvre and Cardinal Richelieu’s Palais Royale, and charging a cool 9,50 euro ($15.00) for a bowl of Japanese soup. “Start right here with the udon, Pat,” counselled la belle Christine. “People will think you’re really crazy to report on Japanese soup from the Land of Haute Cuisine.”
So, dear readers, it is my great pleasure to invite you back to the world of soupsong.com and to serve you a bowl of udon.
Mmmmmmmmmmm. Thick chewy noodles in a fragrant broth with seductive bright green fronds of the fabulous wakame seaweed. I’m just a couple steps from the Seine, but it sure smells like the salt spume of the ocean here at Edokko. I didn’t have the recipe on my site, so: how to find the recipe, get the ingredients, and test it?
In fact, “Little Japan” in Paris is pretty much located on rue Sainte-Anne, a stone’s throw away from Edokko and named in 1667 to honor Louis XIV’s mom, Anne of Austria, upon her death. It’s a short little street in a very old part of town, 4 blocks long and serpentine. As you’d expect in Paris, it has art galleries, wine shops, beauty salons, lingerie stores, antique dealers, hotels, tabacs, a brasserie, and TWENTY-ONE JAPANESE RESTAURANTS.
I was not surprised. There are some 25,000 Japanese living in Paris, and nearly a million Japanese tourists visit in the course of a year. Japan has some 450 companies in France with about 57,000 employees. But there’s a downside: it’s called Paris Stress Japonnaise.
Harriet Rochefort, author of French Toast, has done the research. Japanese are even more perplexed by the French than Americans are. Who knew? It’s not just the language barrier, she says, it’s the nuances; the nonverbals; the fact that the French talk a mile a minute, change the subject constantly, aggressively attack some topic to get a laugh, go ballistic, then shrug philosophically. All, really, for fun–except that Parisien Japanese horribly miss calm and discipline in their lives. Dr. Hiroaki Ota in Paris has 715 patients at his psychiatric clinic at Ste. Anne’s hospital in the 14th arrondisement for Paris Stress Japonnaise. Japanese businessmen say darkly, “French talk as if they are strolling. The conversation doesn’t go anywhere.”
Totally frustrating! Totally maddening! Totally stressful!
What’s the cure? You see it in front of you: a nice calming bowl of soup. The ingredients were totally easy to find at Ace Mart at 63 rue Ste.-Anne–and you should have no trouble finding them either. I recommend making a bowl of Wakame udon for lunch today.
I am so proud your friend and also be mentioned in this very good article on this japenese soup. You help me discover many unknown flavors, and I now know where the japenese shops are in Paris..
Since I tested this wakame, I am putting it everywhere and love it…
I will now continue to visit it your site - regulierement -
Christine
Comment by Brys Christine — October 1, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
Hi Pat… love the blog! And, the Wakame udon soup sounds great. Think I’ll make some and chase it down with a matz in an exquisite glass in celebration of the revival of Soupsong. Congratulations! cassie
Comment by cassie sopko — October 1, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Ah! The Soup Queen is back and more delicious than ever. J’adore la soupe!
Comment by Lulu — October 1, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
Can’t tell you how happy I am to hear sweet “soupsong” again.
As for udon - anyone who has lived in Japan certainly must have udon on a regular basis - Paris sounds like as good a place as any to enjoy those yummy noodles.
Love ya!
Comment by Frances Bondi — October 1, 2008 @ 8:40 pm
On noodles, please read the book by Australian author Terry Durack (ISBN 1-86448-347-4) if it is still in print! It is thorough in its presentation of noodles, and love the recipes described as “slurpy”. Owning a hotel-restaurant and living in the “france profonde”, I do miss the noodle bars of big cities such as Sydney and London… The excellent Yum cha in London in China Town, the “lazy Suzan” full of steaming noodle bowls in Toronto and the most heart warming “Pho” in the streets of Saigon! Long live the noodles!!!!
And yes if you are wondering, I am the sister of the “belle Christine”… A family of foodies! I love soups and my master in soup-making was a drunden Moori Chef from New Zealand! I only work with him for 6 months but oh boy! did I learn a lot… Love the blog, you are such a fantastic researcher, keep it going please!
Comment by Catherine Brys — October 2, 2008 @ 7:38 am
Thank you for including me into the wonderful world of soup! Perhaps I’ll have my new cleaning lady try one a week for my friends here in Madagascar. Watch out world - Pat’s soups are hititng Africa!!!!! P.S. This is the first time I’ve that I’ve blogged!!! rjb
Comment by RJ Bent — October 2, 2008 @ 2:41 pm
The earth will cease its wobble. Soupsong is back!
Comment by Emilie in Minneapolis — October 2, 2008 @ 6:21 pm
Pat!! A great mother/daughter team! Jamie is back in Singapore, wife Rina could be a Singapore Soup tester for you!! Going into fall, soup is back on for dinner!
xoxo Bonnie
Comment by Bonnie Hann — October 5, 2008 @ 8:38 pm
catherine’s…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
Trackback by catherine's — October 8, 2008 @ 9:05 am
Hi Pat
I was making your Baked Potato Soup, and came onto Soupsong to verify the recipe and discovered you are adding more recipes. How wonderful!!!! I am so glad you are back and still loving soup. I’ll stay in touch.
Shirley
Comment by Shirley Parminter — October 24, 2008 @ 4:33 am
Patti,
What fun to read about your life, travels, and of course, your experiences with soup! We’ll always remember our soup-filled winters in Manassas- it was great being your recipe guinea pigs. It just seems natural to have Meg involved now. Love to you both. Betsy
Comment by Betsy — November 2, 2008 @ 9:40 pm
Glad to see you back. Looking forward to more recipes & observations.
Udon–yum, yum, yum. Ramen always seems to be the crowd favorite, but give me udon any day.
(BTW, it’s derrière)
Comment by Louise — December 15, 2008 @ 5:52 am