Soup recipe for 6 people, takes only 25 mins; recipe has vegetable oil, shallots, garlic cloves, lemongrass stalk, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, chinese five spice, black peppercorns, caster sugar, fish sauce, chicken stock, chicken breast, rice noodles, spring onions, carrot, mung bean sprouts, coriander, mint, red chilli, shallots, kaffir lime leaf and lime.
Vietnamese chicken noodle soup
Course: Soup
Servings
6
servings
Prep time
20 mins
Ingredients
- Coriander: large bunch coriander, chopped
- Vegetable Oil: 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Chicken Breast: 3 large chicken breasts (about 500g)
- Red Chilli: 1 red chilli, thinly sliced (optional)
- Carrot: 1 carrot, shredded or peeled into ribbon with a vegetable peeler
- Mint: small bunch mint, leaves chopped
- Lime: 1 lime, cut into wedges
- Garlic Cloves: 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- Rice Noodles: 450g rice noodles
- Spring Onions: 4 spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
- Chicken Stock: 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 litres good quality fresh chicken stock
- Ginger: 2 1/2 cm piece ginger sliced
- Caster Sugar: 1 tsp caster sugar
- Fish Sauce: 1 tbsp fish sauce
- Cinnamon Stick: 1 cinnamon stick
- Star Anise: 3 star anise
- Coriander Seeds: 1 tsp coriander seeds
- Kaffir Lime Leaf: 1 kaffir lime leaf, tough central stalk removed, very finely sliced, (optional)
- Black Peppercorns: 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
- Shallots: 3 shallots, sliced
- Chinese Five Spice: 1/4 tsp Chinese five spice
- Lemongrass Stalk: 1 lemongrass stalk, chopped
- Mung Bean Sprouts: 2 large handfuls (150g) mung bean sprouts
Directions
- Heat the oil in a small frying pan on medium heat and gently cook the shallots and garlic until caramelised and golden brown (about 4-5 mins).
- In a large saucepan, add the caramelised shallots and garlic, lemongrass, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, Chinese five-spice, peppercorns, sugar, fish sauce, chicken stock and chicken breasts. Cover with a lid and bring to a very gentle simmer for about 15 mins.
- Meanwhile, cook the noodles, following pack instructions, until just cooked through (do not over-cook). Rinse under cold water to prevent them sticking together. Drain and divide between serving bowls.
- Strain the soup through a sieve. Discard the spices. Shred the chicken and keep to one side. Return soup to the pot and bring to a boil. Season to taste with more fish sauce if needed.
- To serve, ladle piping hot soup into bowls of noodles and chicken, and top with spring onion, carrot, bean sprouts, and herbs, plus the chilli, crispy shallots and kaffir lime leaf if using. Serve with a lime wedge to squeeze over, and more fish sauce and chilli to taste.
