Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

Dorie Greenspan: Around My French Table Recipe 16

The first red flag went up pretty early- why is Dorie having me put onions, garlic, and spices in the pot with chicken broth and coconut milk?  Why are we not cooking the onion and garlic and blooming the spices first to add more depth and flavor?  I read the instruction 3 times before moving on to make sure I was reading it correctly.  I was, and went ahead with Dorie against my better judgement.  Maybe it's a cultural difference in cooking, what do I know?  This recipe was annoying right from the get-go.  The prep work took an absurd amount of time (or, rather, more than i anticipated) even though it looks on paper like it's not going to be that much.  Dorie's game plan here was bascially throw everything in a pot until all is cooked and it is hot.  Ok, the noodles were cooked seperately and added in at the end.  There was no building of flavor here, just adding of flavor, which irked. If there is one thing i've learned about soups it's to build flavor.  When it comes down to it, you are eating chicken and rice noodles in a boring broth.  Yes, onions are there, but with so little flavor that they're worthless.  Does this sound like something you want to eat?  I bet Dorie doesn't make this for herself.  I'd be shocked if she did.  What's more is that Dorie lists additions to the soup, toppings, under the "optional" heading.  This includes things like thai basil and bean sprouts.  The additions, to me, are not optional.  This soup needs serious help and at least some of the optional additions should have been mandatory. Does this soup get better on day two?  No, in fact, eating the leftovers was culinary torture.