Asian chicken soup with spinach and noodles
Recipe for a wonderfully flavourful Asian-style vegetable soup with chicken, spinach and noodles.
Ingredients
- 1 large fresh chicken
- (or 600 g chicken breast – see intro)
- 10 peppercorns
- 2-3 chicken stock cubes
- Vegetable trimmings, e.g. spring onions, carrots, celery
- Salt
- Water
For the soup
- 1,8 l stock from the chicken
- 2 onions, halved
- 6 cloves garlic
- 150 g carrots, sliced
- 100 g celery, sliced
- 5 cm fresh ginger, sliced
- 1 stalk lemongrass (optional)*
- 1 lime – if omitting the lemongrass
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
To serve
- 200 g noodles
- 100 g fresh spinach
- 2-3 spring onions, finely sliced
- Crispy chilli oil, optional
Method
- Put the chicken in a large pot and cover it with water. Bring to the boil and skim the surface well.
- Add the peppercorns, stock cubes, a handful of mixed vegetables and salt – turn down the heat, cover and let the chicken simmer gently for about 45 minutes, depending on its size. *Use vegetable trimmings or whatever you have lying around – they are only there to give the stock more flavour.
- *If you are using chicken breasts for the recipe, you can simply poach them in a little stock – they need about 10-15 minutes, depending on size. In that case I recommend making a fresh batch of stock for the soup.
- Lift out the chicken and strain the stock to remove the vegetables, peppercorns and so on. Measure out the amount of stock given in the ingredient list.
- Let the chicken rest while you prepare the soup – then pick the meat from the chicken and cut or shred it into smaller pieces.
- Halve the lemongrass and bash it with the back of a knife to release the essential oils and aroma. Tie the pieces together with a little kitchen string if you like – that makes them easier to fish out.
- If you are leaving out the lemongrass, simply season the soup with lime juice before serving.
- Pour the stock into a pot and add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, ginger and lemongrass. Bring to the boil and let it cook for about 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely tender.
- Remove the lemongrass from the pot and blend the soup until smooth with a stick blender, or lift out the vegetables with a slotted spoon and blend them with a little of the stock until you have a completely smooth purée. Pour it back into the pot.
- Add the chicken to the soup, heat it through thoroughly and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then rinse them in cold water so they don't stick together.
- Once the soup is piping hot, stir in the spinach and spring onions until the spinach wilts.
- Season with lime juice as well – if you have left out the lemongrass.
- Divide the noodles between 4 deep bowls – ladle the soup over the top and finish with a little crispy chilli oil if you like.