For some reason, in my house, these things are mostly Thai related. I think it’s the combination of zingy lime, spicy chilli and pungent fish sauce that grabs your tastebuds and shakes them until they explode. We usually end up eating this on a Tuesday evening, especially if we’ve had a roast chicken on a Sunday and I’ve managed to make some stock. That doesn’t always happen though, but a stock cube does the job pretty well.

If the kids are eating with us, I’ll do 2 slightly different versions, one without the lime and chilli.  One of the reasons I love this is that the recipe is so flexible.  I can use whatever I have to hand as long as I’ve got noodles and decent chicken stock.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

• Leftover chicken
• Chicken stock (allow 300ml per person)
• Egg Noodles (1 ‘nest’ per person)
• Garlic, 1 or 2 cloves
• Chilli to taste (I often use the jarred ‘easy’ chilli)
• 1 or 2 Limes
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• Parsley or Coriander (I’ve just discovered frozen coriander which is perfect for this)
• Beans.  I use tinned butter beans or frozen soya beans, whatever I have to hand
• Veg of some sort.  Cherry Tomatoes, Pak Choi and Spinach all work well.

Method:

• Chuck everything aside from the noodles and beans in the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes add the noodles and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Serve…with extra coriander on top if you have some around.
• This produces a slurpy noodle type soup.  If you want a more broth-y soup, cook the noodles separately and just add them at the end.

If you’ve got a ‘Temple Food’ type recipe that you’d like to share, I’d LOVE to hear about it!