P
Middle Eastern
Ash Reshteh (آش رشته)
Iran's most important noodle soup is a thick, herb-heavy potage of noodles (reshteh), beans (chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils), spinach, and fenugreek, topped with a trifecta of kashk (whey-fermented sour cream), dried mint fried in oil with turmeric and onion, and caramelised onion — the combination of the cooling sour kashk against the warm, herb-dense soup and the aromatic fried-mint oil on top is among the most complex layered flavour experiences in Iranian cooking. Ash reshteh is cooked for Nowruz (Persian New Year) and Chaharshanbe Suri, and when a family member departs on a journey — eating the noodles is meant to 'untangle' the road ahead. The noodles (reshteh) symbolise the threads of destiny.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
150 g
dried chickpeas
soaked overnight, drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
dried kidney beans
soaked overnight, drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
green or brown lentils
rinsed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
reshteh noodles
or a flat wheat noodle of similar thickness
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
fresh spinach
roughly chopped
Your own market
50 g
flat-leaf parsley
roughly chopped
Your own market
30 g
fresh fenugreek leaves
roughly chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
fresh coriander
roughly chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 large
onions
one finely sliced for caramelising, one finely chopped for the soup base
Your own market
1 tsp
ground turmeric
Your own market
60 ml
neutral oil
divided: for the soup base and the fried-mint topping
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
dried mint
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
200 g
kashk
at room temperature; see note on substitution
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
salt
plus more to taste
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Partially cook the soaked chickpeas and kidney beans: place them in a large saucepan, cover generously with cold water, and simmer for 45–60 minutes until tender but not collapsing, so they hold their shape through the long simmer ahead without turning to mush. Cook the lentils separately in simmering water for 20–25 minutes until just yielding, keeping them apart so their shorter cooking time does not leave the beans underdone. Drain all legumes and reserve; the beans should yield to pressure between two fingers but hold their shape.
2
In a large, heavy pot, warm 30 ml of the oil over medium heat, add the chopped onion, and cook, stirring, until soft and golden, so the sweetness that will underpin the whole soup has time to develop fully. Add the turmeric and stir for one minute until the oil runs deep yellow and the spice blooms in the fat — the smell shifts from raw to toasty, which tells you the turmeric is working rather than sitting raw in the liquid.
3
Add the drained chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils to the pot, then pour in enough water to cover by 5–6 cm (approximately 1.5 litres) and bring to a gentle boil before reducing to a steady simmer. Remove roughly 20% of the cooked beans with a slotted spoon, purée them to a smooth paste, and stir them back into the pot so they thicken the broth from within, giving it body without flour or starch. The soup base should appear visibly thickened and opaque — not brothy.
4
Add the spinach, parsley, fenugreek, and coriander all at once — the quantity should seem excessive and will crowd the pot, but stir to submerge so the herbs wilt evenly rather than steaming dry at the surface. Simmer uncovered for 20–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the herbs have fully collapsed into the soup and the liquid has turned a deep, saturated green throughout. A timid herb quantity at this stage cannot be recovered — this is where the dish lives or dies.
5
In a separate pan, cook the sliced onion in the remaining 30 ml of oil over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, for 25–35 minutes until deeply caramelised and mahogany in colour, so the topping brings a concentrated, jammy sweetness that contrasts the sour kashk at the bowl. In the same pan, add a little additional oil if needed, reduce the heat to low, and fry the dried mint with a pinch of turmeric for 30–45 seconds, stirring constantly until intensely fragrant but not scorched — even a few seconds past fragrant will make it bitter. Both toppings are held separately until service.
6
Ten to fifteen minutes before serving, add the reshteh noodles to the simmering soup and stir well to prevent clumping, since noodles that stick together will not cook evenly and will seize into a single mass. Cook until the noodles are tender but still carry a little resistance when bitten through, because they will continue to soften in the residual heat of the pot.
7
Remove the pot from the heat and stir the kashk through the soup in the final two minutes, or entirely off the heat, so the gentle temperature keeps it smooth and glossy rather than grainy or split. The soup should turn pale and creamy where the kashk is folded in. Do not return to a high boil after this point; the kashk must remain smooth and uncurdled.
8
Ladle the soup into deep bowls, spoon kashk over the surface, add caramelised onion, then drizzle the fried-mint oil — the mint oil should sizzle audibly on contact with the hot soup surface, which tells you the bowl is hot enough to carry the dish through the meal. Each topping is applied separately; the diner integrates them at the bowl.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Kashk sourced from an Iranian producer — thick, aged, and carrying genuine fermented depth. Reshteh from a specialist Persian grocer. Fresh fenugreek leaves from an Iranian or South Asian market. Beans soaked and cooked from dried.
02
Estate — Good-quality Iranian or Middle Eastern kashk from a specialist deli. Dried reshteh of reliable provenance. Fresh spinach, parsley, and coriander at full market volume; dried fenugreek used to supplement fresh if necessary.
03
Market — Kashk substituted with equal parts full-fat Greek yogurt and sour cream, sharpened with a squeeze of lemon — approximates the sour-creamy quality, not the fermented depth. Flat wheat noodles in place of reshteh. Full herb quantities maintained.
04
House — Tinned chickpeas and kidney beans (drained and rinsed) reduce pre-cooking time substantially. Yogurt-sour cream blend for kashk. Dried herbs supplementing fresh where fresh is unavailable — the herb volume must still be respected.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Pre-cooked beans yield to pressure between two fingers but hold their shape without splitting
◇Sight. After the herbs have cooked down, the liquid is a deep, saturated green throughout — not pale or brothy
◇Sight. After the bean purée is returned, the base appears opaque and thickened without added starch
◇Touch. Reshteh noodles are tender but carry slight resistance when bitten
◇Sight. Kashk stirred in off the heat remains pale, creamy, and smooth — not curdled or grainy
◇Sound. Fried-mint oil sizzles audibly when drizzled over the hot soup at service
◇Where it lives or dies. The herb quantity must seem excessive when added: the soup lives or dies on the density of spinach, parsley, fenugreek, and coriander turning the liquid a deep, saturated green — insufficient herbs produce a noodle soup, not an ash.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
SOV Wheated Rye Whisky
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · Metro Vancouver
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · North Vancouver →Whisky
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year