Dinner With Meg

Perfect for: using vegetables up before their use-by, batch-cooking on a Sunday, being left feeling warm inside

Everyone needs a trusty chicken noodle soup recipe at their disposal and this is mine that I go back to again and again.

You can of course adjust this to make it veggie, or you can switch up the vegetables that you put in it, making it a great fridge-raid meal.

Once you master the base though, there’s so much you can do with this one…give it a go and make it your own!

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 chicken breast
• 125 g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• ½ carrot, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 2–3 cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated (about 1–1½ tsp)
• 1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 800 ml water
• 1 tsp gochujang
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 egg noodle nests (medium)
• 6 pak choi leaves, finely chopped
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1 tsp chilli oil (plus extra to serve, optional)
• Black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Heat the chilli oil and neutral oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant, stirring constantly.
3. Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms and carrot. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the mushrooms soften slightly.
   Pour in the stock (800 ml water + stock cube).
4. Stir in the gochujang, miso paste, soy sauce, and a few cracks of black pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Poach the chicken
   Lower the heat so the soup is just barely simmering.
6. Add the whole chicken breast, making sure it’s submerged.
7. Cover and gently poach for 10–12 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
8. Remove the chicken breast from the pot and place it on a board. Shred or slice it, then return it to the soup.
9. Add the egg noodles to the soup and cook according to packet instructions (usually 3–4 minutes).
10. In the final minute, add the chopped pak choi and stir until just wilted.
11. Ladle into bowls and finish with extra chilli oil if you like a bit more heat, coriander, and sesame seeds.