1.2L water with 2 teaspoons instant chicken broth powder (or 1.2L chicken broth)
1 10cm piece of kombu
2 quarter-sized ginger pieces
2 tablespoons nuoc cham
Dash of sugar
Half a white onion
2 tablespoon dried shrimps
Half a cooked corn cob in separate kernels
1 spring onion, green parts only, cut into rings
150-180g rice vermicelli (I used about a third of a banh pho pack)
Instructions
Put the water/chicken stock in a saucepan, add the kombu (wipe it clean with a dry towel if necessary), and soak for a bit (like 15 min). Add the half onion, and ginger, put the saucepan on the heat, and bring to a boil, removing the kombu just before the water starts to boil. Then decrease heat to a simmer. Add in the nuoc cham. Taste; add sugar if it's too salty.
After 20min, add the dried shrimps and wait another 5-10 minutes, then bring water to a boil, add the noodles and wait 2 min until they're cooked. Throw in the corn and scallions, wait for it to warm up to soup temperature.
Recipe by Aliette de Bodard at https://www.aliettedebodard.com/recipes/corn-shrimp-soup/