pseudo pho
Unfortunately the days have been harder. And the outcome has been more difficult to see.
I didn't post anything last week because I spent all of my days off immersed in a gallbladder cleanse. I thought for sure that was the final answer to all of my problems. I thought if I could get those organs to sing again that I would be back to my regular self. I'm normally skeptical to the point of being negative, but for some reason or another - hope or whatnot - I put all my eggs in this basket only to be deeply disappointed.
The disappointment was met with equal parts fear, exhaustion, and hopelessness when my eyes were opened to what was truly wrong with me. I guess the cleanse was good at unveiling the real mystery I've been blindly dealing with because I was able to identify something that was inside me that was completely foreign and unrecognizable.
After much searching and reading I came across the symptoms of the Liver Fluke, another parasite. I actually cried when I read the symptoms because I have not been able to relate to something more closely and have never been so sure of anything. It not only explains all of my digestion problems, but explains why I had been so sure that there was a problem with my bile ducts. They make their way from the intestines to live in the bile ducts and liver. The damage they create disguises itself as mere liver and bile duct complications. Happy tears of slight relief?
Turns out it's a very uncommon parasite to get in the states, thus not widely recognized. People get it from eating certain raw veggies overseas or raw freshwater fish from overseas. The latter is exactly what I did 6 months ago on August 25, the day I started to feel ill. The medication to treat it is fairly simple and requires 1 or 2 doses to completely eradicate the bug. However, since its "rare" in the United States, the medication is not available or recognized by the FDA or USDA, and requires that the Center for Disease Control contract a single pharmaceutical company to make the drug on a case-by-case basis IF tests show a positive for this parasite. I could go on and on about this, but basically the doctors at Kaiser are giving me the runaround and have done a horrible job at taking me seriously. My GP won't get back to me even though I've told her explicitly what I know I have, and everyone I've spoken to on the phone can't even get me an appointment with a specialist. The amount of red tape is endless. I also have given up completely on my previous naturopath because she can't get back to me either, and when she does, can never seem to answer a single question I have.
Once again I'm going forward with what I think is best, and have tried even more alternative methods of recovering. Now that I have a more specific idea of what I'm dealing with, I know more on how to better eradicate what is no longer just in my intestines, but in my bile ducts and potentially liver. I recently spent the last 3 days ingesting small amounts of sublimed sulfur, which is definitely poisonous in larger amounts, but in small doses, actually will get metabolized into the liver and help cleanse it, something my other parasite medicines cannot do because they stay in the intestines.
I'm going to see a new naturopath today for the first time and, before I've even seen her, she already told me about the benefits of pure turpentine - something I grew up using on a regular basis because I was a painter and that shit is poison. Turns out its not and, just like sublimed sulfur, is something we are led to believe is bad because it works too well and negatively affects the pharmaceutical business. I found so many people stating on multiple sources what a miracle medicine this is and that this has specifically worked on liver flukes, too. Needless to say I already ordered some.
Anyways, that's where I'm at. If you read this far, you're a gem and truly deserve something, if anything, a hug. If you've already heard me talking about this then thank you for reading again - I don't usually like to spill my guts about these things but if I can gather awareness and tell more people, maybe someone will know something and have more answers than the person before them.
It's been the longest, most painstaking journey I've been on (and that's saying a lot considering what I've deliberately put myself through) and I've learned more about myself in the last 6 months than I have in my entire life. Mostly lessons on patience, the human condition, and finding strength when you are completely fresh out of it. I've probably mentioned before that it really just helps to rant and talk to someone that will listen. This is now an outlet for that, so if you're reading/listening, thank you.
Anyways [again], I've been craving SOOOO many foods since all of this has gone down and have made a mental list of dishes and places I want to experience again when I'm all better. In the meantime I still succumb to (rice) noodles and soup because I love them both too much to give up, specifically any Vietnamese noodle and/or soup. I want to go to go my favorite Vietnamese restaurant to eat pho or bun bo hue SO BADLY, but in the interim I actually made this soup with absolutely no intention to mimic pho. I seriously just had rice noodles and vegetables and somehow created a flavor profile that reminded me very much of the deeply fragrant, cinnamon-y broths of pho.
In the end it reminded me of a way better version of the vegetarian pho-s you get at restaurants. Every time I've ordered a veggie pho I'm always disappointed by the bland broth and lack of effort put into the dish as a whole (yet I never learn to stop ordering them). This was way more uplifting.
The trick was to spike the broth. I had already made chicken bone broth in the freezer that I used as the base - it's totally acceptable to buy store bought stock or bone broth (which is crazy accessible these days). I merely use bone broth for it's health benefits, which I'm finding are incredible and soothing. I created a dashi using the chicken broth instead of water to layer even more flavor. Once I put cinnamon and star anise, some more onion, ginger and a heavy dose of garlic into the broth, it created another yet another dimension on top of a basic chicken essence.
As for everything else, definitely feel free to use whatever floats your boat veggie and noodle wise. The veggies I used were the result of a wonderful haul from the discount section of Berkeley Bowl, as per usual. I also got the fresh rice noodles from Berkeley Bowl as well - they are, in my opinion, the best ones I've ever had. And even though they are fresh, they last a very long time in the refrigerator.
One last thing, this made great leftovers. Enough for me, enough for the significant other to take to work, and held up very well.
veggie | noodle | pho
serves 4
2 quarts chicken bone broth, or regular chicken broth or veggie broth
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1 medium sheet kombu
3 star anise pieces
1 stick cinnamon
1-2" piece ginger, roughly chopped
1/2 yellow onion
5 cloves garlic
1/4-1/3 cup soy sauce
1 bunch baby asparagus, trimmed
2 baby bok choy, cleaned and quartered
1 small daikon radish, cut into 1/4" thick half moons (or however you really want)
12-16 oz rice noodles (you decide how much you want per person!)
2 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
1 package tempeh, sliced in long 1/4" pieces
Start by boosting up your broth. Put the chicken bone broth (or whatever broth you're using) into a large soup pot. Add the shiitake mushrooms, kombu, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, yellow onion, and garlic. Add another quart of water then bring to a simmer, not a boil. Let the broth simmer for about an hour or two with a lid on so the liquid does not evaporate.
After the few hours have passed, strain the broth through a fine sieve. Discard everything except the mushrooms. Return the broth back to the pot and put the heat back on low. Chop the hydrated shiitake mushrooms.
Once barely simmering, add the daikon radish and mushrooms. Let cook for about 5 minutes and then add the quartered bok choy.
In another small pot or an electric kettle, fill with water and bring to a boil. This will be to soften (not cook) the rice noodles. They merely need a hit of hot water to be reconstituted. Once the water boils, put your noodles in a strainer and run the hot water over the noodles until they look like they're softening. Immediately run cold water over them to stop the cooking process. The noodles will cook more in the hot soup. Divide into portions and set aside.
Add the soy sauce to the soup along with tempeh and asparagus - these just need a flash of heat to cook through and not overcook.
Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce if necessary.
To assemble: place portioned noodles in a soup bowl. Pick out a medley of the soup vegetables and tempeh and place beside noodles. Ladle desired amount of broth into bowl. Add scallions for garnish and serve!
