Super bowls

Use your noodle wisely

By CHRISTINE LIU

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In many cultures, tradition dictates eating noodles to bring prosperity and longevity into the new year. To be sure, the way of the noodle is long and narrow.

[sweet]

PHO HOA | HU TIEU NAM VANG ($6.25)

Pho, the ubiquitous and highly slurpable Vietnamese noodle soup studded with all thinkable varieties of beef cuts and redolent with Thai basil, lime and cilantro, is probably a dish many could never imagine living without. It's the ultimate comfort food on a blustering day, utterly craveable and dirt cheap. By hitting you simultaneously with salt, protein and vitamin C, it also does wonders for a hangover.

It was a while until I could move beyond the roughly 23 combinations of pho to embark upon the other noodle soups on Pho Hoa's menu. With subtle sweet undercurrents, Hu Tieu Nam Vang is described as "rice noodle, fish cake, pork paste, sliced pork, crab meat, squid and shrimp" and has proved just as addictive as pho with the advantage of its contents being quirkily unpredictable. Depending on the mood of the kitchen, sometimes you'll get a hank of silver mung bean noodles instead of long white vermicelli; chewy squid one day can morph into hemispheres of salty fish balls. The submerged pieces of pork are gnarly and lean, belied by decadent mini-cubes of crunchy pig skin floating among the vegetal bits of scallions and onions. If you're lucky, they'll slip in a quail egg -- a morsel of richness exploding on a happy tongue.

[17 Beach St., Chinatown, Boston. 617.423.3934. phohoa.com]

[salty]

WANG'S FAST FOOD | SHRIMP WITH PORK WONTON SOUP NOODLE ($5.95)

On a frozen and drizzly day, when all you want to do is pad around in thick socks, tasty soup that comes to you is nothing short of brilliant. Bastion of arguably the most delicious dumplings in town, Wang's delivers (literally) when the weather gets rough. A tall Tupperware hints at the goodness crammed inside, producing a tumble of noodles, vegetables and steam as you tip it over into a favorite big bowl.

The bouncy texture of sumptuous, substantial rice noodles play off the crunchy shreds of carrots and cabbage. Tiny pea pods are sliced lengthwise, green hemispheres poking out like heads under a bright blanket. Salty and sour, the tang of fermented goodness firmly hits from roving pickled mustard greens and playful bits of seaweed. In contrast to the wintry mess outside, the soup is host to a palette of springy colors from green to yellow to orange.

But nothing compares to the joy of biting the first wonton among the hodgepodge. A silken skin, ethereal as hell, protects a wad of precious flesh with a tight, wrinkled grip. Though all are sturdy and intact, I rip one open in the name of science, revealing plump halves of shrimp stuck firmly to the meat. With the soup's haunting essence of black pepper, it all goes down too easy, each dumpling a little treasure down the hatch.

[509 Broadway, Somerville. 617.623.2982]

[sour]

ROD DEE | TOM YUM SEAFOOD NOODLE SOUP ($7.15)

In the way that it almost seems impossible to believe a baby can come out of, well, you know, I'm always rendered speechless by how much varied goodness can emerge from a tiny kitchen and take-out counter. A veritable refuge while nursing fond memories of the demolished Food Court in Chinatown, Rod Dee tirelessly dishes out Thai meals while you order from the back-lit menu and bus your own damn table.

Tom Yum soup on its own is a pungent, puckery mélange of lemongrass, chili and fish sauce-scented broth. But toss a coil of noodles and a seafood medley into the mix, and it becomes a hearty, tangy stew to be reckoned with. Plentiful pieces of squid, scored prettily on the bias, are agreeably chewy and edged ever so faintly in purple. There are no less than five variations on the fish cake, including plump balls, spongy thin slices and a hulking, presiding knob. Nutty ground peanuts swim unexpectedly into your spoon, along with bits of cilantro and wayward bean sprouts. Finish that can of mango juice and you're out of there, unless you'd like to slide a donation to the Boston Buddha Vararam Temple in a box on the counter before heading out the door.

[1430 Beacon St., Brookline. 617.738.4977. roddeethai.com]

[bitter]

PENANG | CURRY MEE WITH YOUNG TAU FOO ($7.50)

Before proceeding, it must be noted that this soup isn't for the fainthearted. The opaque, speckled curry barely hints at the tangled textures below. Poke among the mane of noodles in the bowl and discover a trove of ingredients best described as bloated, bobbled or billowy. Rescue the broad spoon before it disappears below the murk, and pause lest you be swiftly thrown into a tongue-burnt haze.

And so you get to work, face down in the stuff, plunging ahead with truth and glory. The juxtaposition of rice and egg noodles creates a dual texture in the mouth with a thick, stewish consistency from absorbing rich aromatic broth. Several permutations of fried, puffy tofu swim around, flanked by shrimp-fish-paste-filled bitter melon (in both daisy flower and stuffed sausage formats) and plump, soppy slices of eggplant. Bean sprouts mingle in there too, dressed in vague noodley camouflage. Once you're feeling like you're coasting comfortably, another white fish ball pops into view, begging for a chomp on its fleshy orb. Among the debris floats a single Thai basil leaf, a vulnerably poetic touch. Soon the curry's spices will catch up to you, a tingly burn radiating from the inside out. There's a reason for all those napkins; good luck, tiger.

[685 Washington St., Chinatown, Boston. 617.451.6372. penangusa.com]