If Monsoon comes can soup be far behind?

Rain pittered and the some drops pattered on the iron staircase outside the kitchen window. My stomach demanded victual succour while the cranium tempted the eyes into succumbing to a rather tempting slumber.

A cauldron of stock from gleaned from the remains of the last potluck at my place was almost a divine suggestion at this point.

Pork Bone Soup Stock

A quick look at the crisper reminded me of a weekend cleaning fervour. Drat! No vegetables. 
Oh look! A neglected onion, a nub of ginger, and a handful of garlic. My heroes!

Rough chopped, the garlic browned and wafted an aroma that waited to sizzle with the onion slivers in the sauce pan.

Garlic getting browned

The onions join the garlic

Decisions! Decisions! Clear soup or thick? Nah! Neither. Something umami and rich. And it'd better be quick!

Soy sauce and oyster sauce

A quick dash of soya sauce (to reinforce the umami) and a gob oyster sauce later, the mix was getting ready to embrace the broth. 

Ah! The meat... I quickly got out the shredded pork pulled from the stock pot along with the shoulder bones and magically the hungry kittens appeared, howling for their share. 
(You cannot fool the feline nose!)

Shredded Pork from the Soup Bones

Add the shredded pork

Dora Dora Kitten is eyeing the meat!

Boiled Pork Skin bits

While the pork soaked up the goodness of the soy, I remembered the pork skin from the stock. So, I quickly chopped some and threw in the bits to add a bit of a bite and texture. The pork skin bits begged to bind things a bit, so they joined the mix and sputtered a bit.  

Getting ready for the broth...

Noodles! Ah dang! Of course... A wee bit of rummage in the larder revealed some dandy tea powder and buckwheat soba noodles.

Japanese Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Add the noodles

The broth went in little at a time, deglazing the saucepan and then, in went the noodles...

The Pork Broth

A splash of Chinese rice wine

... and then I ladled in lot of broth from the stock pot. Everything cosied up to each other and soon was bubbling contentedly in the sauce pan. So I splashed in a wee bit of Chinese Rice Wine for luck and turned the heat to a gentle simmer for a while.

Ladled into a bowl, bits of rescued cilantro and drop of toasted sesame oil now crowned my midnight saviour.

Slurp!