Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

When the Dragon and I were still just friends, he got really sick once and given that he didn't have a partner to look after him at the time, I made him a big batch of chicken soup.  I knew how much he loved Worcestershire sauce and decided to throw a bit in just to make sure he would definitely like it (provided that he could taste).  The result was so good that I was jealous leaving it all there for him and went home and made another batch for myself!  Ever since then, this is the chicken noodle soup that I make every time we are sick, and I wouldn't leave out the not-so-secret-ingredient which takes it to another level. It is so easy you can make it even when you are sick yourself.  I can't return to the canned or pre-prepared soup anymore.  Warning - once you have made this, you can't go back to a lesser version.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2 skinless chicken breasts trimmed of fat.
• 1 packet of Singapore noodles (220g)
• 1/4 a womboc cabbage, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp parsley, to serve.

Potential Spins

Change the vegetables to whatever you like.  You could also substitute lentils or beans for noodles to make this meal carb free.  Add some crusty bread (rubbed with garlic for flavour) on the side if you are not carb-averse.  If you toast the garlic rubbed bread in the grill for a few minutes it would be beautiful dipped in the soup.

To make it easier (especially if you are cooking this while sick) you could skip the chicken shredding part and just dice the breast and chuck the chicken and veggies all in at once.  I chose a stepwise approach and I think it worked better, but both ways are absolutely fine.

The final optional spin is to use a hand blender to blitz this into a smooth soup.  I haven't tried this but I suspect it would be just as tasty, only smoother.

Method

1. Place the chicken breasts in a large saucepan with the chicken stock.  Bring to a boil then simmer with the lid on until they are cooked through.  The time will vary depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts.  Mine took about 15 minutes because they were quite thick.
2. Meanwhile, cook the onion, carrot and celery in a frypan until they soften.  I recommend avoiding oil if possible, so I'd use a tablespoon of water in the pan rather than oil if it is likely to stick.  Once they begin to soften, add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute or so.  Turn off the heat and add the lid to keep the veggies hot and steaming themselves.
3. Remove the chicken from the broth and shred using one fork to hold the chicken and one to shred it. Meanwhile add the cabbage, onions, carrot and celery to the broth.

   

   After taking this pic I realised that two forks were better than a fork and tongs.

4. Chop the noodles and pull them apart with your hands.

   

   Noodles chopped, partially pulled apart, and chicken fully shredded.

    Add the chicken, noodles, worchestershire sauce, salt, lots of pepper and thyme to the broth.

   

   Omigosh yum.

5. Simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes (or until vegetables are cooked to your liking), then serve topped with parsley.

Our Take Aways

We have and always will love this soup.  It is comforting, full flavoured and delicious.  This recipe is filling and makes a large amount - it fed the two of us for three nights, so is budget friendly.  What more can I say?

What do you add to make your chicken noodle soup delicious?