Directions

1. Mushroom is one of my favorite ingredients that I like to add to my chicken noodle soup. If you use dried mushroom, soak them in water until they are nice and soft. If you use fresh mushroom, just cut them into bite size. I usually use dried and fresh mushroom together. You can also do a mix of different kinds of fresh mushroom.

2. Slice a big piece of chicken breast into half center meter thick pieces then cut it into long strips. Put it in a bowl. Marinade it with 1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine, 1.5 tsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of black pepper, 2 tsp of cornstarch. Mix until the cornstarch is well combined and all the liquid seasoning is gone.

3. Heat up your wok. Put your hands above it and if you feel the obvious heat coming up. Add some oil. About 2.5 tbsp. Toss it around so the oil coats the wok.

4. Add some minced garlic, white part of the spring onion, diced shallot, and minced ginger. Give them a few stirs. Add the chicken. Spread it out. Let it cook a little bit. Flip and mix so they don’t stick together. We just look for to cook the chicken. There is no special technique. If you see the bottom of the wok is burning. Don’t panic because after we add the broth. That good stuff will all go into the soup - so much more flavor.

5. At this point, you can add some vegetables you like. I used shredded carrot and the mushroom we prepared before. Give it a rough stir and pour in 6-8 cups of unsalted chicken stock, store-bought chicken works well too. Just make sure you get a good quality one. I also pour in the water that I soaked with the mushroom. You know, just for some extra umami flavor

6. Bring the soup to a boil. While waiting, we can get another pot and start cooking our noodles.

7. Any types of noodles will work for this recipe. I used store-bought Chinese noodles. It is quite starchy. That is why I am cooking it separately. I don’t like to make the broth cloudy.

8. Add the noodles into the boiling water. I am making 1 portion for myself. If you have a big family, you just time how many people you are serving. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Taste it and to make sure it is cooked through.

9. Take it out. Drain the excess water. Lay the noodles in the bowl.

10. Let’s go back and take a look of the noodle broth. It is nice and bubbling. Add some salt. Taste and adjust it. You want it to be a bit saltier than what you normally like because we didn’t add any season to the noodles. I also like to blanch some baby bok choy. Just throw the greens into the soup. Stir it for about 10 seconds. Add a bunch of cilantro. Then turn off the heat.

11. Take a serving spoon, pour this soup onto the noodles. Also, take a big spoonful of the chicken and mushroom to put it on the top. Place a few pieces of blanch choy sum. Sprinkle some scallion and cilantro. Yum! You are ready to enjoy this warm, comfortable chicken noodle soup.