I was told that Miracle Springs, here in my hometown, has noteworthy house-made soups, but I discovered that they're actually made at The Spa next door. A patron at my local tavern told me that Miracle Springs and The Spa are owned by the same person, and they have a man that comes in specially to make the soups. On the day I went to try one of their soups, they only had Chicken Tortilla, and because I've had good versions of this in Mexico, I didn't have much hope that it would make my blog; however, it turned out to be a fresh and healthy version of the Mexican classic, and it was amazing. The rich and creamy broth had onion, red beans, fresh corn, diced tomato, and little chicken pieces in it. The soup was topped with crispy tortilla strips and grated cheese, and lime wedges were on the side. There was a touch of spice, probably because tortilla soup broth is traditionally made with dried chiles. This soup was definitely house-made, and squeezing lime wedges into it kicked it up to the next level. The waitress told me to come on a Friday for the house-made clam chowder. I will try it and report back.
Location: Sunshine Cafe (Spa Restaurant), 10805 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs, California. Date: March 23, 2024.
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This pork ramen consisted of rich pork broth, roasted black garlic oil, pork chashu, seasoned soft boiled egg, green onion, kikurage mushrooms, bean sprouts, dried seaweed, and thin noodles. I ordered fresh jalapeño slices as an extra. The halved egg had a soft center, but it was cooked enough not to leak into the soup, and it was definitely seasoned. The seaweed was part of a dried seaweed sheet that was put partly into the soup on one side of the bowl. The dark broth with the black garlic oil was nice and rich, and I definitely enjoyed that. The pork was three tender slices that were seasoned well. The noodles were perfectly cooked, there was crunch and spice from the jalapeño, and a little crunch and more blackness from the rehydrated dried mushrooms. I ate the ingredients out of the bowl with chopsticks and slurped the broth out of the bowl at the end, tasting that black garlic oil.
Location: Torakichi Ramen, 5001 W Ramon Road, Ste 201, Palm Springs, California. Date: January 10, 2024. Huey came across a lot of carrots, and he made carrot soup at his home. I frequent his restaurant, Smokin' Burgers, and he brought samples of his soup for select patrons to taste. I told him that if he brought me a whole bowl of it, I would blog it. He did, and I asked for a green garnish for the photograph, and as you can see, it was three slices of jalapeño, two of which I ate with the soup for that extra spice. The soup consisted of yellow onion, garlic, virgin olive oil, fresh ginger, apple cider vinegar, pepper, chicken stock, carrots (of course), organic maple syrup, and cream. It was savory, creamy, just a touch sweet, and very delicious. Huey suggested it could be made vegetarian with vegetable stock or vegan with the vegetable stock and coconut cream instead of the dairy cream.
Location: Smokin' Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: January 5, 2024. The menu said this was a rich soybean based broth with organic tofu, green onion, kikurage mushrooms, bamboo shoots, baby spinach, and corn. With this dish I had the choice of spinach noodles, so that's what I chose. I also chose a couple of extras: dried seaweed and spicy umami oil. There was some crunch from the bamboo shoots, the thinly sliced black mushrooms, and the corn kernels. The spinach noodles were toothsome and provided some nice color. I only got one sheet of seaweed, but it was better than nothing. The oil was spicy, but I enjoyed it in my milky white broth (that I think was really smooth miso with some ginger). It was so good that it took me a while to realize that the tofu was missing. When I pointed it out, I got a plate of grilled tofu that was sliced really thin that I added to what was left of my broth. It was a good and interesting bowl of noodle soup.
Location: Torakichi Ramen, 5001 E Ramon Road #2 A, Palm Springs, California. Date: December 30, 2023. This is a tomato based lamb soup flavored with Indian spices. I ordered it spicy, but I found it to be so mild that even my sister could have enjoyed it (maybe). It had green peas in it, little bits of lamb, and some celery. It was a touch sour, a little sweet, somewhat spicy, and it was creamy deliciousness. If I remember right, this was my first lamb soup in an Indian restaurant, and it's a winner.
Location: Monsoon Indian Cuisine, 555 S Sunrise Way, #107, Palm Springs, California. Date: September 9, 2023. This is a very spicy soup of smooth blended green chiles. Poblano chiles can range from quite mild to quite hot. These were roasted, and I think that means that water evaporated and the heat intensified. The soup was quite savory with a hint of sweetness. This was an intense soup experience but worth the pain; I could not stop eating it until my bowl was clean, and I'd do it again!
Location: Sancho's, 411 East Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, California. Date: July 26, 2023. This beef tongue soup had lots of tender chunks of tongue swimming in a mild broth that I added chopped onion to as well as chopped cilantro and some squeezes of lemon wedges. I also added some hot sauce, and it all came together. The noteworthy features are that this place actually serves tongue soup, the tongue is well cooked and really tender, and I got a lot of tongue for the price.
Location: El Taco Asado, 440 El Cielo Road, Palm Springs, California. Date: July 22, 2023. This cold soup isn't even on the menu yet; I saw it on the chalk board as I walked in. It's actually so much more than the name implies because it comes with a bevy of beautiful butterflied shrimp. The soup itself is watermelon juice with tomato juice added for body, and there's pico de gallo in it (finely chopped tomato, onion, and green chile) as well as chopped cucumber and sliced avocado. It had a rich but refreshing flavor, a touch sweet from the watermelon juice, there was a hint of worcestershire sauce, and a nice spicy bite. There was crunch from the cucumber and from the corn chips that were served on the side. The saltiness of the chips accentuated the sweetness from the watermelon. The soup was garnished with a large mint leaf that added its own refreshing flavor, and there was creaminess from the avocado. This gazpacho was spectacular!
Location: Low Desert, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Suite 405, Palm Springs, California. Date: June 21, 2023. The owner of Smokin' Burgers in Palm Springs recommended this dish, and I finally got to try it. On the menu it's chicken cilantro soup served over a biscuit. What I got was chicken soup with shredded chicken and vegetables served over two biscuits that together had soaked up all the broth. The biscuits were soggy but really tasty, and they were surrounded by the vegetables that included corn, carrot, and bell pepper. The cilantro was fresh and sprinkled on top as a garnish. This soup was interesting and delicious. It tasted a lot better than it looks.
Location: Crossroads Cafe, 61715-29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree, California. Date: April 27, 2023. This was mostly a seaweed soup with pork ribs for some protein and flavor. Most of the meat was still on the bone which undoubtedly helped flavor the broth. The seaweed was kelp, and it was soft but still a bit chewy. I enjoyed the texture of the kelp and the umami flavor of the broth. It was also nice to knaw some meat off the bone. It wasn't a one note soup, and I'm sure it was extremely healthy.
Location: Cie Sichuan, 45682 Towne Street, Indio, California. Date: March 11, 2023. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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