Recipe video above. A simple, delicious Chinese noodle soup with a broth that you'd swear came from your favourite Chinese restaurant! This is a midweek version so it's made with store bought soup broth rather than a made from scratch broth. I've kept the toppings very simple because this recipe is more about the broth than the toppings. You can add any toppings you want - vegetables and proteins (refer Note 7).
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Total Time15 minutesmins
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese
Keyword: asian soup broth, chinese noodle soup
Servings: 2
Calories: 352cal
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Ingredients
Broth
3cupschicken stock/broth, low sodium(Note 1)
2garlic cloves, smashed (Note 2)
1.5 cm / 1/2"ginger piece, cut into 3 slices (optional, but highly recommended)
1 1/2tbsplight soy sauce, or normal all purpose soy sauce (Note 3)
Place Broth ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Place lid on, bring to simmer then reduce to medium and simmer for 8 - 10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.
Meanwhile, cook noodles according to packet directions.
Cut bok choys in half (for small / medium) or quarter (for large). Wash thoroughly.
Either cook the bok choi in the broth in the soup broth OR noodle cooking water for 1 min (if noodles required boiling).
Pick garlic and ginger out of soup.
Place noodles in bowls. Top with chicken and bok choy. Ladle over soup, garnish with green onions. Great served with chilli paste or fresh chillis.
Notes
1. Chicken stock/broth - just store bought chicken broth is fine here, but get a good quality one (Campbells in Australia is my favourite brand). Don't use chicken stock powder with hot water for this recipe - the flavour is too chickeny.2. Smashed Garlic - wack the side of your knife onto a garlic clove using the heel of your hand so it bursts open but remains mostly in one piece. This allows the flavour to seep into the soup but can be picked out before serving. You could just mince the garlic using a garlic crusher but you'll have little bits of garlic visible in the broth, rather than being a clear clean broth.3. Chinese cooking wine is a key ingredient to transform store bought chicken broth into a restaurant-quality soup broth. Dry Sherry is an excellent substitute. Otherwise, Japanese cooking sake or mirin are adequate substitutes (if you use Mirin, skip sugar).If you cannot use alcohol, I think the best sub is as follows:
Reduce soy sauce to 1 tbsp
Add 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce (this has umami and will add complexity into the broth flavour to compensate for leaving out cooking wine).
4. Extra broth flavouring options: star anise, chilli, green onion (just fold them) or onion quarters.5. Sesame oil - use toasted (brown colour, more intense sesame flavour), not untoasted (yellow, not common in Australia).6. Noodles: Use any you want, fresh or dried but if using less, use less. Here's a guide of amount of noodles per serving:
Fresh noodles, thin (ie from fridge section, this is what I use) - 90g / 3 oz per serving
Fresh noodles, wide and flat (like thick Thai rice noodles) - 150g/ 5 oz per serving (much denser, so you need more)
Dried noodles, pasta (yes, really!) - 60g / 2 oz per serving
Ramen - 1 pack / "cake" per person
Prepare according to packet directions - do notadd into the broth (it sucks up lots of the broth). 7. Toppings: Cook proteins separately to keep things simple. My "go to" is shredded cooked chicken because I keep little bags in the freezer (poaching keeps it juicy). Egg is also great - just whisk it lightly, pour it in and whisk to create egg "ribbons" like in Hot & Sour Soup and Chinese Corn Soup. Chinese BBQ Pork Slices is fabulous (I order it at restaurants on soup), but I never have leftover when I make it.Vegetables - cut and cook in either noodle cooking water (if noodles require cooking) otherwise if the noodles just require soaking, then cook the vegetables in the broth. Put the vegetables that take the longest to cook in first (like broccoli), and delicate ones last (like beansprouts).Veggie suggestions - toppings commonly found on Chinese noodle/ wonton soups:
Any Chinese veggies (bok choy/buk choi/pak choi, gai lan/Chinese broccoli, choy sum). Cut Bok Choy into half or quarters lengthwise (pictured / video), for other veg, cut into batons about 5cm / 2" long
Carrots - sliced on the diagonal
Bean sprouts
Green beans
Other veg - not common at Chinese restaurants, but works great!
zucchini (sliced)
green beans cabbage (thick slice)
asparagus, broccoli / broccolini and cauliflower,
any other vegetable that can be boiled.
8. Nutrition is per serving, assuming 1/4 tsp of sesame oil is used. The nutrition can be substantially enhanced by adding more vegetables! Reduce sodium even further by using low sodium soy sauce.