HOT SWEET AND SOUR ASIAN BROTH

Gorgeous bowl of goodness, fragrant hot, sweet and sour this beautiful bowl of abundance delivers more than a meal.  Loaded with lots of good for you ingredients that love you back, this is a winner dinner all round, even more so because you can tailor make it to what ever vegetables you have in the fridge or growing in the garden larder, the base broth can stay the same making this a quick and varied dish ready in minutes.

My fridge is never without a large kilner jar of homemade chicken stock with chunks of braised chicken sitting in the bottom of the jelly, this makes for speedy good for you suppers in minutes giving you more time to spend with the family or with yourself.

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

1ltr homemade chicken stock

1 chicken quartered

1 onion

1 bay leaf

1 carrot rough chopped

1 leek rough chopped

2 sticks celery rough chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 sprig of thyme

1.5ltr water

Sea salt and pepper

1 star anise

6 sichuan peppercorns crushed

1 lemongrass bashed

2" ginger grated

2" turmeric grated (1tsp ground)

2 green chillies finely sliced

1 tbsp palm sugar

1 lime juiced

1 tsp harrisa paste

1 tbsp tom yum paste

1 tsp tamarind pulp

200ml coconut milk

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp shaoxing wine

1 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

2 ptn rice noodles

2 handfuls greens

1 carrot juillenned 

1 leek finely sliced

1 handful watercress

1 boiled egg just set yolk

1 tsp sesame oil

2 glorious free range eggs

The Perfect Mollet Egg

Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil, add your room temperature eggs and set the timer for 6 minutes, 6.20 minutes for large eggs, this is important do not guess the time.  As soon as the time is up drain the hot water away and fill the pan with cold water, drain again and re-fill with cold water again, leave for a minute then remove from the pan and leave on the side until needed, any extra cooked eggs can be stored in the fridge.  These are great just set boiled eggs and can be used just the same as hard boiled eggs.

Homemade chicken stock

Place all the ingredients for the chicken stock in a deep pan and bring to a gently simmer for a couple of hours, strain, reserve some of the chicken meat for this meal or reserve for others, season the stock to taste.

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes or according to cooking instructions on the packet, drain and run under cold water then toss in a dash of sesame oil, reserve to one side.

Bring the chicken stock to a gentle simmer, add the lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, chillies, star anise, sichuan peppercorns, palm sugar, lemon juice, coconut milk, shrimp paste, tom yum, harissa, tamarind pulp, soy, shaoxing and fish sauce.  Adjust the taste using the lime juice and palm sugar.

In your serving bowls place the noodles, carrots, greens, watercress, leek  and some of the chicken then ladle over the broth and you are good to go!