Thai Chicken Noodle Soup (Nigella)

I had a bad sore-throat a few weeks ago, and have been staying away from spicy food. So much so, that I was craving for a bowl of curry laksa, one of our local noodles with rich coconut broth, spicy and delicious, especially with the side condiment of sambal belacan and a squeeze of lime. Of course I would be torturing my throat if I have that, so I'll just settle for this mild noddle soup, recipe from Nigella Kitchen.

This noddle soup was made a few weeks ago, for lunch, and the kids were both happy when they were served with this bowl of noddle soup when they were back from school.

Nigella uses chicken stock for this, and those of us who are staying over here in Malaysia would know how difficult it is to get ready-packed chicken stock, which can only be found in Cold Storage, Village Grocer, the supermarkets that carry mostly imported food items. I have not made any chicken stock ever since my homemade chicken stock went down to zero. Gotta get my lazy butt going for another round of chicken stock soon! Well, as soon as I clear my almost full freezer!!! 

Since this recipe uses cooked shredded chicken, I have boiled a large piece of chicken breast and used the stock for the soup, which I have added in another 2 teaspoons of chicken stock powder.

The chicken breast is then shredded to pieces. This dish is really simple, for the soup, it only uses chicken stock, turmeric powder, fish sauce, sugar and tamarind paste. I have omitted the lime juice since the taste is just right with the tamarind paste. You may however squeeze the lime juice over your own bowl of noodles, as we Malaysians love to do that! :)

I have used glass noodles (tung fun) for this dish. Instead of cooking the noodles in the soup, I have soaked the glass noodles until softened and boiled briefly in salted boiling water. Glass noodles cooks rather fast, just place them in the boiling water for a minute, drain and divide into serving bowls, with the hot soup poured over just before serving. 

Do not expect this bowl of noodle dish to be chock-full of spices and spicy flavour, like the ones we are used to in Malaysia, this is rather mild, what we would call "masak lemak" without the usage of chillies. Overall, I'm very happy with this bowl of noodles, especially the kids, they love it, mild enough for them to enjoy and very tasty too. Though I would advise to add on some prawns and fishballs like I did! I would not mind cooking this again, though the next time, I'll make some sambal belachan (a chili condiment paste) to go along with it, with a squeeze of lime! Enjoy!

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

1 quart chicken broth
6 ounces thin rice noodles or glass or cellophane noodles (made from mung beans)
scant 1 cup coconut milk
1x1-1/2 inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and sliced thinly, then cut into skinny strips
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 fresh red or green chile, seeded and cut into strips
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
8 ounces tender-shoot, stir-fry, or other assorted vegetables
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, to serve

Put the chicken broth in a good-sized saucepan to heat up.

Put the noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water over or cook following the instructions on the package.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the vegetables, to the pan and bring to a boil.

When the chicken is piping hot, add the vegetables and when they are tender - a minute or two should be plenty if you're using the tender shoots - add the drained noodles. Or simply divide the noodles between bowls and pour the soup over them.

Serve sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro.