Asian people love their soups, and I am one of them! We eat them throughout the year, even in the hottest of weather, sweat trickling down our temples, tucking in and enjoying every bite and moment of the experience. There really is something undeniably comforting and homely about a bowl of soupy noodles. Incorporating prawns and chicken, an inimitable combo, this is one of my favourite soup noodle recipes – delivering a sumptuous noodle soup. A bit of work is required to assemble this bowl, but I promise you it will be worth it.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast
- 150 gm prawns shell on
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 thumb ginger smashed
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 5–6 cup iceberg lettuce leaves
- 120 gms rice noodles
Instructions
Let’s begin by poaching the most tender chicken breast. My method is to bring a litre of water to the boil in a small to medium-sized pot. Once it is boiling, add your chicken breast. Your chicken breast must be completely submerged in the water. If it is not, you can top the water up so that it is. Bring the water back to the boil and then turn the heat off completely. Leave your chicken breast in the water, poaching for the next 30 minutes. When the time is up, remove your chicken breast, leave it to cool and then shred. Set aside. Do not discard the water the chicken was poached in; it will make a fabulous contribution to your broth.
Let’s move on to the prawns. De-shell your prawns keeping the head and shell for the stock. The stock is easy, all you need to do is place heads and shells in a pot, add a litre of water, put the lid on and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and let it boil gently for another 15–20 minutes. You will notice the water in your pot starts to bubble with a tinge of pinky-red residue. This is exactly what you are after – I call it flavour! Using a strainer, remove all the shells from your prawn stock.
With the water still lightly simmering, your prawns go in now. Switch the heat off, and leave your prawns in the stock for five minutes. After five, your prawns are cooked. Just remove your prawns and set them aside for later.
Now, in a clean pot, add your sesame oil, smashed garlic and ginger. Once your aromatics begin to waft around your kitchen, as they turn slightly golden, add the poached chicken, water and prawn stock. Mix in your oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper and stock cube. Bring everything to the boil, and then lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Once this is done, switch off the heat and pour in your Chinese cooking wine. Your broth is now ready.
In a different pot, bring water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, your rice noodles go in. All they need is a couple minutes to cook, then strain and set aside. Your noodles can be prepared ahead of time and will keep for a couple of hours at room temperature.
Now it is time to assemble your bowl of noodles. I like to begin with the noodles in a deep bowl, a handful of shredded chicken on one side, five to six prawns on the other, and salad leaves in the corner.
Pour over the soup and then garnish with all your favourite things. I would advise, coriander, spring onions, chillies and fried onions. Fried garlic will also work perfectly here. Now it is finally time to enjoy!
Wine Pairing
Adrienne Salerno, owner of Terra Doce Portugal, recommends the Dona Maria Vinho Branco 2022 for this wine pairing. Because this dish is rich and comforting, she advises this medium-body white wine from the Alentejo that can stand up to the richness of the dish, and balance the warm and savoury flavours with a nice acidity. The wine is aromatic with some tropical fruit notes, which complement the aromatic sweetness of the prawns.
Terra Doce Portugal (Instagram @TerraDoce_Wine) is a business that celebrates Portuguese wines through unique wine-tasting events in collaboration with local wineries, restaurants and hotels. Adrienne runs a Portuguese wine club and also hosts wine tastings at The Kitchen in Lagos.
Joy Entry is a Malaysian home cook based in Lagos who is obsessed with the provocative, unapologetic flavours of South-East Asian cuisine
Instagram: @thatasianhomecook