So. Much. Cheese. I am bored of food. The usual suspects of meat, deli things
and baguettes have been done to death.
Even the more special occasion foodstuffs are failing to appetise. It seems I really can have too many
good things.
After the relentless
onslaught of saturated fats inflicted by Christmas my body was craving
something healthy, fresh and easy to eat.
Something to soothe my jaded digestion and ease me into the health-kick
my waistline is crying out for. Scientific studies have proved what so many
mamas already know to be true: chicken soup sorts you out.
Certainly, the thin,
semi-clear flavourful broth with its frugal slivers of chicken and vegetables
nourishes without irritating.
Gentle and light its perfect for a belly that’s been chugging on booze,
cheese, meat and crisps. However, I’m
a bit obsessed with pho, ramen and la mian and all manner of Asian noodle
soups. I love the perfectly
balanced flavours of slowly simmered vats of broth with skilfully hand-pulled
noodles but I am also addicted to the cheap thrill of Koka or Nissin Cup
Noodles. Tongue-tinglingly full of
MSG they satisfy an urge but leave you feeling a bit dirty afterwards.
A guilty brunch of
mine is to pimp up an instant noodle soup: throw into the usual soup mix a
splash of Chinese rice wine, some toasted sesame oil, soy, ginger and
garlic. Handful of
coriander, a sliced chilli and a poached egg. That way you can nearly pretend it’s healthy…
As I was feeling a bit
icky in general I didn’t really want to subject my stomach to any dubious
chemical enhancers. I figured the
best way to get what I needed was to cook the chicken soup from scratch Jewish
style but with Asian aromatics, adding noodles and fresh coriander just before
eating. In no way is my version
authentic but it certainly hit the spot. The broth was intensely flavoured without being overpowering. It was quaffably addictive and ridiculously
healthy, leaving me feeling light and sated rather than stuffed, sleepy and sick. I have more cooked chicken left over
than I’ve broth to match, but as it hasn’t absorbed the soup flavourings, its
perfectly suited to use in sandwiches or pastas etc . Anything you’d use left over roast chicken for really.
It felt alien boiling
a whole bird instead of roasting, but its something I’ll be doing
again ….
Asian-Style Chicken
Noodle Soup – Serves 4 as a
noodle soup with plenty more chicken meat.
Chicken Broth
1 chicken (about 1-1.5
kg) jointed (I’m rubbish at this so just took the legs and wings off so it fit
comfortably in the pan)
*you could just use
chicken leg, thigh and wing pieces if you wanted instead
1 red onion peeled and
halved
2 cloves
2 star anise
3 inch peeled chunk of
ginger
5 pieces of garlic,
unpeeled but smashed with the back of a knife so the skin is broken
2 sticks of lemongrass
bashed about
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons of
Chinese rice wine
Salt
1)
In a large
lidded saucepan or lidded wok add the chicken, the rest of the ingredients then
fill with cold water so that it’s just covered.
2)
Cover with
the lid and heat slowly on a medium to high heat until its simmering merrily,
periodically removing with a spoon the white scum and oil that rises to the
surface.
3)
After
about 1 hour to 1 ½ hours the meat will have turned opaque white and it will be
cooked. Remove the chicken and
drain the liquid through fine sieve discarding the vegetables but keeping the
liquid.
4)
Strip the
bird of as much meat as you can, cutting or shredding into bite sized pieces
(and get rid of the skin as its gross when boiled).
5)
Taste the
broth to see if it needs more salt. If it’s too strong, add a splash of boiled water. Let it cool for about half an hour or
so and remove as much of the fat that has risen to the surface as possible.
Assembling the
Broth – 1 bowlful
1 inch ginger - finely sliced into a very thin
matchsticks
1 small handful of
coriander roughly chopped
½ red chilli finely
sliced
½ finely sliced spring
onion
1 small handful of dried
noodles – you can use a packet of instant or egg noodles but I used Vietnamese
flat rice noodles.
Poached egg or hard-boiled
egg (sliced in half)
Handful of cooked and
sliced chicken meat
1)
Heat a
bowlful of broth in a saucepan till simmering, add the noodles cooking to
packet instructions. Add the
chicken just before the noodles are done.
2)
Pour both
noodle, chicken and broth into a deep bowl, add the egg, the coriander, the
chilli, the ginger and the spring onions.
3)
Eat and
drink up and feel virtuous.