I had a dream one night. A dream of a better chicken noodle soup. One that will give you a warm hug to help you feel better when you're sick, but with lots of textures and flavors beyond mushy vegetables, dry chicken breast, and overcooked egg noodles.
Real talk, why are we allowing chicken noodle soup to be so mediocre? Whenever I'm sick or have a stuffed up nose, I don't want to eat something that's just meh. I find myself needing something with amplified flavors to awaken my muted taste buds. Sorry Progresso, but I what I look for doesn't come from a can.
My solution was simple: draw inspiration from the chicken noodle soups that I actually enjoy. This initially led me to pho, which I love, but I was seeking something a little different. I already have my go-to pho place, and I wasn't trying to replace them given that I want to support small businesses during this trying time. Plus, I tend to lean toward all the organ meat instead of chicken, and my idea was for something that leans more toward "American" chicken soup. Given that I am not a pho expert, I was not about to develop my own recipe and call it pho. But I did some research on pho, as well as some other favorite Asian soups: miso soup, ramen, broth soup. By the time I had sifted through enough recipes, I realized the soup of my dreams was a combination of many different soups. So full disclosure: there's practically nothing authentic about this recipe.
I worked my way through the steps of American chicken noodle soup, then pulled a Missy Elliot and flipped and reversed it. If you had asked me how I would typically make chicken noodle soup, I would have started with a mirepoix, then the chicken, topped with pre-made stock, boiled the noodles in the stock, and been done. I cannot even begin to tell you how wrong this is. It ruins the integrity of every ingredient that goes in. Big no-no.
Instead, it's stock and chicken first. Sesame oil adds a pungent nuttiness that is much more welcome in soup than EVOO's fruitiness, and using skin-on chicken to create schmaltz ensures a chicken-y broth without needing to roast a crap ton of chicken wings and wait multiple hours. For the veg, I opted for spoon-friendly pieces of carrot, swapped the onion for it's brighter cousin the scallion, and ditched the celery entirely (truthfully, I only like celery raw anyway). To ensure the flavors are not just present but amplified, I introduced more aromatics beyond garlic by reaching for ginger and lemongrass paste (a great cheat, especially since the real stuff is rarely in the supermarket these days). For heat and salt, I added for dried chilis, soy sauce, and miso paste, a ubiquitous item in my fridge thanks to accidentally buying too much when trying out someone else's recipe. To make up for the loss of crunchy celery, bok choy gets added at the very end.
And then, there's the most important part. The thing I learned from every Asian noodle soup recipe I researched. The thing that every American recipe gets wrong. Cook the noodles separately and keep them reserved, then only add them to each serving at the end. This ensures that your noodles will never turn to gruel, and you will always have fresh, springy noodles with your leftovers. If you learn anything about noodle soup, let it be this. I will never go back to adding noodles to broth again. It's a blasphemous concept, really.
There's a tropical storm blowing through Philadelphia right now, and that type of weather usually screams soup to me, even if it is August.
Next time you make soup, let your ingredients have some integrity. As much as we want to believe soup can be a "set and forget" dish, it deserves much more love than that.
With new knowledge and noodles,
~c.j.
ASIAN INSPIRED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
PREP TIME: 5-10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 45 minutes
YIELD: 8-12 servings, depending on the size of your bowls
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 lb skin-on (boneless or bone-in) chicken thigh
5 oz shredded carrots, given a rough chop so pieces aren't so long and stringy (about 1 1/2 c.)
8 scallions, sliced, whites and greens divided
1 3-inch piece ginger, minced*
6 cloves garlic, minced*
1 tbsp lemongrass paste*
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
4 dried chilis
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1/2 c. white miso paste
9 oz rinsed and chopped bok choy (about 2 1/2 c., you could also use baby bok choy sliced into halves)
cooked noodles for serving (such as rice noodles, ramen noodles, udon noodles, buckwheat noodles, egg noodles, or semolina pasta)
DIRECTIONS
Heat sesame oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add half the chicken thighs skin side down, and cook about 5 minutes. Chicken fat should render out (known as schmaltz) and the skins should take on some color. Flip and cook for an additional 2 minutes, then remove and set on a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.
To the dutch oven now filled with delicious schmaltz, add the carrots and the whites and light greens of the scallions (reserve dark greens for garnish). Sauté 5 minutes until fragrant, then add ginger, garlic, and lemongrass paste. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Stir and cook about 1 minute.
Add reserved chicken thighs back to the dutch oven, followed by dried chilis, soy sauce, and 8 cups water. Bring to a bare simmer over high heat, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is fully cooked, about 15 minutes.
Remove chicken and set aside, allowing to cool slightly. Whisk in miso paste, ensure it dissolves completely (miso paste likes to stay globby, so be vigorous). Shred or chop the chicken into manageable soup-friendly pieces, then add back to the dutch oven along with the bok choy and stir to incorporate. Allow to cook 2-3 minutes. (You can remove the chilis if you wish, but they're actually quite tasty now and finding one in your bowl is a little treat!)
Place cooked noodles at the bottom of bowls, then ladle soup overtop. Garnish with reserved scallion greens. Drain your sinuses and enjoy.
*COOK'S NOTE: If you are like me and hate chopping/mincing tiny things like ginger and garlic, you can always whip out the handy dandy food processor and food process your ginger, garlic, and lemongrass paste together. The liquid in the lemongrass paste will help ensure the ginger and garlic get a fine chop, and all three ingredients get added at the same time anyway, so it makes for a quick transfer to the dutch oven to cook.
*LEFTOVERS: If you skipped ahead to the recipe, let me just stress this important lesson: cook the noodles separately and only add them to bowls when serving. When storing leftovers, keep your cooked noodles in a separate container from the rest of the soup. Do not add cooked noodles to the big batch of broth, or your noodles will overcook, soak up all the liquid, and be like mushy worms that ruined your wonderful soup.
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