Noodle Soup (Again).

Living with my Dad is acting like culinary kryptonite at the moment. Most people laugh at me when they learn that my average day involves my Dad and I pinging each other emails across London with subject lines such as 'yummy' and 'lets make this' followed by an evening of cooking and watching  the Good Food channel, all the time discussing how friggin' awesome what we've cooked that day is. If I say so myself we are probably the best fed pair of workers in SW London - at the moment Monday seems to be the day for our version of the Olympics.

There are a fair amount of noodle soup recipes on this blog. This is something I refuse to apologise for because, you know what? There is about to be another. This one sits somewhere between Vietnamese, Thai and Schezuan (I think) and was the product of one of mine and my fathers rather elaborate Monday evenings. It is a feast of textures and layers of flavor and is yours to do what you will with, whether you want it more lime-y or chilli hot etc.

Serves 2

For the Chicken:
4 x Chicken thighs, skinned, boned and blitzed in the food processor
2 tbsp flavorless oil
a good handful of sesame seeds
1 tbsp of runny honey

For The Paste:
1 stick of lemongrass, outer woody leaves removed
thumb sized piece of ginger
2 fat garlic cloves
1 hot red chili

For the noodle soup:
1/2 tin of coconut milk
500ml good chicken stock
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp soy sauce
bunch of mint finely chopped
a few spring onions shredded
2 bok choy
1/2 a red pepper in slices
rice noodles for two

Firstly get a frying pan on to heat to get screaming hot  - while you wait blitz the ingredients for the spice paste in a processor.

When the frying pan is hot fry the chicken in the oil, smashing it up into the consistency of a course mince. Keep frying and tossing until it goes golden and crunchy.

Add the sesame seeds to toast off and then for the last 30 second stir in the honey ensuring it coats the chicken. Turn out onto some kitchen paper to drain off any excess fat.

Now in a big pan or wok in a little more oil sweat off the spice paste and when fragrant add all the liquids and the noodles. When the noodles are nearly done add the other veg to lightly soften.

Ladle into big bowls and top with the chicken, mint and spring onions.

Spicy Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup.

For once I actually have a genuine excuse for my absence from this little Blog. 

I got robbed. Literally. 

Two weeks ago, two young scallywags broke into the house, smashing far more windows that was really necessary to get in and swiped various things in the house including my laptop, iPod and all my car keys, making blogging a bit tricky. The crowning glory moment within this farce was probably having to pay to have my own car clamped so it couldn’t be driven away in the middle of the night.

On a more culinary note, I’m really into noodle soup at the moment. When I have my one treat-eat-out-at-work lunch of the week I have been experimenting with the various noodle soups on offer near my office, I can safely say the superfood sobas at Pod are superior to many out there.

This recipe lies somewhere between a tribute to my favourite Kare Lomen at Wagamama and the Vietnamese Pho noodle soup. It has real depth of flavour and is thoroughly heart warming especially given the arctic weather at the moment. Of course due to my chilli addiction mine was practically lava it was so spicy but the fragrance of the lemongrass and galangal along with the creamy luxury of the coconut milk turns this dish into a real, quick, easy week night treat.

Serves 2-3

For The Paste:

2 lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed, bruised and roughly chopped

2.5 cm piece galangal root, peeled & roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled & finely chopped

2 onions, peeled & roughly chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded & roughly chopped

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 hot red chili, chopped

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp curry powder

1 tsp shrimp paste 

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Enough noodles of your choice cooked to packet instructions

1 Can of coconut milk

Juice of 1 or 2 limes (depending how juicy they are)

2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

½ pint chicken stock

For Garnish:

2 handfuls of beansprouts

Finely shredded cucumber and spring onion

Fresh coriander finely chopped

Roasted sesame seeds for garnish

In a food processor blitz all the ingredients for the paste until smooth. Add a touch of water to help it blend if necessary.

Sweat the paste in the oil and when fragrant throw in the chicken strips. When they have sealed add the liquids and noodles and bring to a simmer. 

When the chicken is cooked through ladle into deep bowls and serve with the various garnishes. 

Vietnamese Noodle Soup

So I’m back in the blogosphere! It has taken several years but amazingly (and rather terrifyingly) I’m done with my degree. Finally things can return to normal and I can return to blogging without the impending doom of deadlines or dissertation stress.

I had the house to myself last week so rather than spending the night periodically freaking out about monsters under the bed (and every other available dark space), I had a dinner date with a friend, she bought the wine, and this is what I cooked.

It pretty much is the perfect dinner party meal, it looks and tastes impressive and it’s a bit different, but it actually really isn’t effortful. You can prep everything beforehand and if you make the broth in advance and do all your chopping all you have to do is sweat the herbs and throw everything in a big pot. Occasionally I make this with chicken as well but since my friend is vegetarian/occasionally vegan I omitted the chicken in favor of tofu but in all honestly I’m not sure it needs either, guess it just depends if your feeling the need for some protein.

Serves 2

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ a hot red chili, chopped

zest of 1 lime

thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped

Enough tofu for 2, cubed

various green veg (I use pak choi and green beans)

Enough noodles for 2, cooked according to packet instructions

½ a can of coconut milk

1 veggie stock cube

500ml water

juice of 2 limes

large handful of coriander, chopped

large handful of mint, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

Heat the water and stir in the stock cube, add the coconut milk, soy and lime juice and taste/adjust to your liking so you get a good balance of salt, sour and sweet flavors  in the broth.

In a large pan or wok, fry the tofu until golden then sweat off the first 4 ingredients.

Add the veg and cover with the broth and simmer until everything is tender.

Add the noodles, bring back up to heat then stir in the herbs and ladle into large bowls. 

Veggie soba noodle soup.

Last week was crazy. No exaggeration. One of my two dissertations, a 15 minute documentary, was due last Thursday meaning I was literally chained to an editing booth at university for the entirety of the week. In all honesty I don’t think I had a real meal for about 48 hours over Wednesday and Thursday. Again. No exaggeration. Wednesday night saw a dinner of  a multi-bag of salt and vinegar chipsticks and an energy drink. Things were bad.

My body however was only on the road to further destruction with the celebration of my 21^st birthday on Friday night. Needless to say by Sunday after I’d finally sobered up I was feeling rather fragile and in need of some nourishment.

This is one of those things that you eat and just know it’s doing you good, its like the cure-of-all chicken noodle soup but japanese-y, with a good kick of chili to clear out your sinuses. It’s very economical and because you cook everything in the broth you don’t loose any of the  good for you stuff  in the veggies. Plus it’s probably the easiest thing I’ve ever made.

Serves 2

2 bundles soba noodles

1 carrot, cut into battons

handful of sugar snap peas

1 onion, sliced

½ red pepper, sliced

thumb sized piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks

1 fat garlic clove, chopped

½ red chili, sliced

1 good quality veggie stock cube

½ tsp toasted sesame oil

lime juice

soy sauce

sugar

Literally throw everything apart from the lime, soy and sugar in a pan and cover with cold water.

Bring it up to the boil and simmer until the noodles are cooked, you want the veggies with a bit of bite left in them

Now add the last three ingredients to taste until it works for you, ladle into big bowls and nourish yourself.