Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi

This classic Chicken Noodle Soup is my absolute go-to 'quick dinner' if I'm short on time or have been out all day, as it takes hardly any preparation but is packed full of flavour and is so super nourishing too.

I always turn to this if I'm feeling under the weather too - it's true it is medicinal - it must be the chilli, garlic and ginger. Restorative and delicious this was another soup in my 'Seven Days of Soup' challenge recently - this one is a naughty carbohydrate one though with the noodles but the Mama Instant Rice Noodles complete this meal for just over 160 calories per portion and they're well worth it.

You can of course cook your chicken for this soup yourself, but for me it benefits from being made from cooked chicken (throw the bones in and remove before serving) and using a really good quality, or homemade chicken stock.

Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi

Here's how:

• 500g cooked chicken
• Handful Spring onions
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 cm fresh ginger
• 1 chilli
• Handful mushrooms
• Handful bean sprouts
• Handful fresh coriander
• Handful fresh chives
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Shaohsing wine
• 1 tsp Sriracha sauce
• 1 lime
• 2 portions Mama Instant Rice Noodles or alternative
• 2 bulbs of Pak Choi
• 1.5 pints good quality chicken stock

Firstly tear up the chicken and throw into a large pot. Use kitchen scissors to snip in the full spring onions.

Peel and slice the garlic and ginger and place all in the pot. Slice the mushrooms and chilli, keeping in the seeds, and add these too.

Pour over the stock, the fish sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, shaohsing and soy sauce and cook for 30 minutes.

In the final few minutes of cooking, add the noodles, and tear in each individual leaf of the pak choi. This will literally need 1-2 minutes more of cooking.

Now remove from the heat and add the final seasonings. Cut the lime in half and squeeze over half into the pot and stir. Now tear in the coriander leaves and throw in, add the bean sprouts, which will cook enough in the heat of the broth and finally again use the kitchen scissors to snip in the chives. Stir thoroughly and serve each portion in a deep bowl with a sprig of coriander and an additional lime wedge for personal seasoning. Chilli fiends may wish to add some fresh, raw chopped chilli too. Enjoy

The other soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' included:

Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil Bacon and Kale Soup