Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
The week after daylight savings is always a bit rough for me. As if preparing for the long, cold winter ahead wasn’t hard enough- now we have to watch the sun set before we eat dinner! It is easy to fall into the darkness and be bitter, but it is also easy to turn Bob Marley onto my Pandora (pretend I am on an island) and cook up some food that will make me smile. A positive outlook on the winter ahead is the only way to make it through!
This soup is an awesome take on chicken noodle soup. The soy sauce is balanced by the sugar and acidity of the lime. I ended up having a lot of extra broth, which is great to freeze to use for a quick replica meal any day of the week! This soup is comforting, but also light and refreshing; the perfect meal to have while you focus on resetting your clock (and perspective on the winter ahead!).
Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 C canola oil
- 2 T butter
- 1/4 C roasted garlic minced
- 4 chicken leg & thigh quarters bone-in, skinless
- 1 T salt
- 1/2 T black pepper
- 1 1/2 C celery sliced
- 1 C carrots chopped
- 2 T fresh ginger minced
- 1 1/2 C soy sauce
- 1/2 C chicken stock
- 2-3 C water
- 1/2 C cilantro chopped
- 4 stalks lemongrass try to keep long for easy removal from broth
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 T crushed red pepper
- 1/4 C sugar
- 2 limes zest & juice
- 16 oz rice noodles
- 1 head bok choy thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then sear the quarters on both sides.
- Add the celery, carrots, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, stock, cilantro, lemongrass, bay leaves, red pepper, sugar and zest of 2 limes. Add 2-3 cups water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until chicken reaches 165F (about 20-30 minutes).
- While chicken is simmering, cook the rice noodles in boiling water until tender (about 5 minutes).
- When the broth is finished, remove the bay leaves and lemongrass. Shredd the chicken and remove bones from broth.
- Divide rice noodles and sliced bok choy among four bowls. Top with chicken broth mixture. Juice 1/2 lime over each bowl before serving.
