Soup glorious soup - Asian-style chicken noodle

One of my favourite things about cooler weather is that I can eat soup. Lots of soup. Growing up we used to have a small bowl of vegetable soup before nearly every evening meal, which I grew to love - especially as our house always seemed to be freezing! 

I must even confess that I have tried a few "soup" diets over the years. Fortunately for those around me, the cabbage soup diet lasted about 1 meal. Cabbage, I quickly discovered, was not my favourite veggie to add to soup. Yuk. 

Fortunately for me, my beloved also loves soup. His favourite is pea and ham, and I nearly always have a couple of containers of that in the freezer. 

I love Asian soups - with tender morsels of meat, slippery noodles, fragrant herbs, hot chilli and the tang of lime juice. 

Today's lunch was this Asian-style chicken noodle soup, quickly whipped up in about 10 minutes. On the weekend I had poached a whole chicken, so I could replenish my chicken stock supply and also have some beautiful shredded chicken for a few meals this week.  

To make the stock:

• 1 whole chicken (I usually try and get an organic or free range chicken)
• 10 slices of ginger
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 10 coriander seeds
• 2-3 star anise
• 5 white pepper seeds
• 1 onion quartered

Pop all this in a large stock pot with 4 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer with lid on for about 90 minutes. Skim off any impurities. After 90 minutes turn off the heat and leave to cool for about an hour. Remove the chicken, once it's cool, remove and throw out skin and bones. Save the meat for meals during the week. Strain the liquid into another container, throw out the solids. Keep the liquid in the fridge for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

I normally try and make the stock a day or so before I need it so that I can skim any fat off the surface once it has cooled. Although this should be minimal. 

mmmm soup :)

To make the soup for 2 people you need:

• 750ml chicken stock
• 200gm shredded chicken meat
• 1 packet rice noodles (today I used 1 of the 2 packets that are in Kan-Tong rice noodles)
• bean sprouts
• 2-3 shallots
• handful each of basil and coriander (you could also use mint, Vietnamese mint, Thai basil, but this was what I had)
• sriracha chilli sauce
• hoisin sauce
• 1/2 lime

Heat the stock in a saucepan until it comes to the boil. 

Cook the rice noodles according to the packet. 

To assemble, put the noodles in the bottom of the bowl, add the chicken, then add the bean sprouts. Pour over hot stock. Add the shallots, herbs, sauces and lime juice to taste. 

Eat! Preferably without burning your tongue or splashing it all over yourself... *

What are your favourite soups? 

* disclaimer - I may or may not have done both of these...

Cookbook review: South East Asian Food

They say never judge a book by its cover, and I really, really try not to. But for this book make an exception. Please. The cover is absolutely stunning. As everyone who has seen this book on my dining table has commented. The recipes throughout are equally gorgeous.

Other than the cover, a couple of things struck me about this book. There are no pictures. Rare in cookbooks in Australia these days. PLEASE don't let that put you off! And as I looked through it, seeking a couple of vegetarian dishes to cook for my photographer friend Jen (who took these stunning photos), I discovered that there aren't any. BUT don't let that stop you from enjoying this book either!

So many of the mouth-watering pastes and sauces can just as easily be used with veggies. Such as the couple I made. But more about those soon.

Rosemary Brissenden {read here for an interview} originally wrote this book over 50 years ago, when it was the among the first to discuss and characterise food from South East Asia. Additions to this edition - which has been completely rewritten - are sections on Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Countries that were less than accessible in the 1960s and 70s! Rosemary's background in international relations is apparent as each section includes a fascinating overview of the cultural and historical context of food in these countries.

While there are many books around with 30-minute Asian dinners, this book is not one of them. There are no "short-cuts" to be had with pre-made spices or sauces. All these are made from scratch, mostly with a trusty mortar and pestle {although I did cheat with one of them and used my thermomix to grind the spices}. Which means you also need to have a bit of time. And plan ahead.

Some of the spices used - ginger, garlic {grown outside Brisbane}, coriander, cardamom, cloves, cumin, chilli, fennel

The three recipes I made were all from the Malaysia and Singapore section:

• Dry chicken curry
• Tandoori chicken {Malaysian Indian} 
• Cucumber raita {Malaysian Indian}

Tandoori chicken is a favourite in this house. Usually courtesy of Patak's. But not any more! The flavours of each of the spices in this dish - coriander seed, cumin seed, chillis, garlic, ginger - were all so subtle yet blended to give a zing you just don't get with a pre-made paste.

Tandoori chicken with rice

The second dish, Dry Chicken Curry, was even more powerful on the tastebuds. The cardamom and cinnamon flavours lingered throughout our house for hours, creating a warming, Christmassy feel {which was a bit odd for an overly hot day in early Spring!}.

To make the Dry Chicken Curry:

• 1 chicken, skin removed, cut into curry pieces {I cheated a bit here and used 1kg of thigh cutlets}
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 brown onion, finely sliced
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 cup water
• 2 small potatoes, quartered
• salt to taste

Paste spices

• 2 tbs ground coriander
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp tumeric powder
• 1/2 tsp ground chillies (or more to taste)
• 3 cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 3 cardamom pods
• 2.5cm piece of ginger, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 6 shallots, sliced

Quite cleverly I didn't clearly read the recipe before I shopped, so I didn't have any curry leaves {and sadly neither did the curry tree in the back yard} and I forgot to buy shallots {I used a small brown onion instead}.

To make the spice paste, grind the dry spices to a powder in a mortar or a food processor {I used my trusty thermomix}. Add the garlic, ginger, shallots {onion...} and mash to a paste. Mix with the chicken pieces, cover bowl, pop in the fridge and let it marinate for 2 hours.

This was my tandoori paste before adding yogurt. Looks good doesn't it!

Once marinated, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and curry leaves until the onion is golden. Add the chicken and all the spice paste and fry until fragrant {the fragrance will hit  you immediately! So fry for 5-6 minutes, making sure each piece of chicken browns all over}.

Add water, salt, potatoes and cook until chicken is tender, potatoes cooked, and gravy is almost dry. Stir well and serve with rice and cucumber raita.

What I loved about this curry is that it would be equally good with a firm white fish or pork or a big mound of veggies.

Dry chicken curry - sooooo good.....

There are so many mouth-watering recipes in this book. Especially in the Vietnamese section. And the Thai section. And the Cambodian section. Oh you know. The whole book!

What is your favourite South East Asian recipe? And cookbook?

Two big thank yous:

1. Jen Dainer, who took all these gorgeous photos - check her out at Industrial Arc Photography
2. Hardie Grant - who sent me a copy of this stunning book. 

THANK YOU!!!

Bone suckin' good!

OMG this stuff is AMAZING. A massive thanks to Black Pearl Epicure who invited me to trial a new product (new to them that is!) and if I liked it, would I blog it. LIKE it - I LOVE it!

IT is an American product called Bone Suckin' Sauce. Now, I hear what you are saying. It's American. It will be full of ghastly high fructose corn syrup {a scourge of waaaay too many foods}. Well, no, it's not! I know! Quel surprise! {oops wrong country. Really meant to say "holy smokes Batman!"}.

AND there are no preservatives and it is gluten free. Win all around.

There are loads of ways you could use this sauce - I kept it simple, and just used it to marinate some chicken drumsticks, so I could get the full and unadulterated flavour. Sooo simple. The 10yo stepson {readers will be aware of his pickiness when it comes to so many foods} LOVED it. And has requested it again and again.

So, what I did was this:

I scored {actually, I forgot, but you should score} the chicken drumsticks, placed them in a bowl, then added about 1/3 jar of the sauce. Rub the sauce over the chicken pieces making sure the sauce gets into the scored bits.

Cover the bowl and pop it into the fridge for 3-4 hours {I didn't actually do this bit either - it was Friday night, we were hungry, it was getting late, I was a bit disorganised - we've all been there!}.

Preheat your oven to 180c, then pop the chicken pieces onto a baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 45-60 minutes, turning the drumsticks every 15 minutes or so.

You can see here there are only 7 drumsticks. That was perhaps my biggest mistake with this dish. I should have cooked 70. Or at least 17. They were bone suckin'ly good.

I served them with roast potato pieces and a simple salad. Delicious.

There is also a hot version of the Bone Suckin' Sauce. We haven't tried that yet - will do so soon. I've also made this using chicken thigh fillets that I cooked on the BBQ instead of in the oven. They took about 15 minutes on the BBQ.

3 ways with... poached chicken

I love chicken, and would eat it at least 3-4 times a week. Often for breakfast as well as for lunch and dinner {well, ok, maybe not THAT often for breakfast}.

Having a couple of poached chicken breasts in the fridge makes it super easy when it comes to throwing together a quick meal for dinner or to pack for lunch. And it's a LOT healthier than rushing to the nearest supermarket to buy a BBQ chicken {although they do taste good!}.

Poaching chicken (and fish) used to seriously scare me. Until the first time I tried. WOW! How easy was it! Made me feel a bit foolish for not trying sooner!

All you do is this:

Almost fill a skillet or fry pan with water and bring it to the boil {leave about 2cm for the water to rise once the chicken is added}.

I generally only poach in water, but you can poach in most cooking liquids including stock and coconut milk. You can also add herbs and spices such as ginger, star anise, peppercorns, fresh herbs, wine, vinegars, fruit juice or anything else to flavour the chicken.

Once the water is boiling, add the chicken breasts so they are fully submerged in the water {or at least 90%}.

These are  not quite submerged, but I turned them over about 15 minutes into cooking.

Once the water is boiling again, turn off the stove, put the lid on the pan and leave it!

Allow the chicken to cook in the hot water for about 20 minutes, turn it, then give it another 20 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, it should be cooked. If you're not sure, give it another 10-15 minutes. As it's sitting in water it won't dry out. Once it's cooked, remove from the water and put the chicken on a plate to cool.

For food safety reasons, don't leave the cooling chicken out of the fridge for more than an hour or so

Once it's cooled, put it apart along the grain, tearing the chicken into shreds with your fingers {if it hasn't cooled that's OK, but you'll burn your fingers!}.

3 chicken breasts are a lot of shredded chicken! This container is larger than it looks.

Store the shredded chicken in the fridge in an airtight container until you're ready to cook with it - it should keep for 3 days.

NOTE - you can poach fish the same way {I love poached salmon} but it only takes about 10-15 minutes in total, and a bit less if you're poaching salmon and you like it quite rare.

One the chicken is poached, there are SO MANY RECIPES you can use it for!

Some of my favourites are:

1.  On a sandwich or bread roll with lots of whole egg mayo, lettuce and a bit of salt and pepper

2.  In a simple salad with sliced or chopped cucumber, tomato, red pepper, red onion, baby spinach leaves, splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Those with eagle eyes will notice this is not shredded chicken! It's actually leftover BBQ chicken, but just imagine it's shredded... 

3. In a toasted wrap with basil pesto, grated parmesan cheese, tomato, mushrooms

I used a lavosh style bread for this, but a tortilla works well too. Just wrap and toast in a toasted sandwich maker 

Deceptively filling!

4. In a simple - and speedy - pasta sauce with sauteed mushroom, red onion, tomato, red pepper, basil pesto, grated parmesan on top - the slowest part of this meal is waiting for the pasta to cook

This is possibly one of THE ugliest photos I've ever taken, but this meal was sensational! 

What's your favourite way to eat leftover chicken (whether it's poached, grilled or BBQ)?