Coconut noodle soup with ginger, spring onion & lemongrass chilli oil
The world never seems to tire of noodle soup and it brings immeasurable comfort each time we make it, no matter how many times we make it. I love that it’s open to adaption, so it differs slightly from country to country, family to family, generation to generation. Mine pays homage to my love of east asian flavour combinations; those of lemongrass, ginger, spring onion, chilli, soy sauce, star anise and coconut milk. This is very much a loose, ‘make it up as you go’ recipe and specific measurements aren’t required. Just use however much you like of each ingredient and taste and adapt as you go! The thing that really sets this apart from other more traditional noodle soups is the flavoured oil I top it with. It’s ridiculously good and really trasnforms it! Below is a rough guide for how I make mine.
Makes 2 servings:
I reserve half of the base paste for the soup for the base of the flavoured oil, so make that first.
The base for the soup and oil:
5tbsp neutral oil
Half lemongrass stick (bashed with the back of a knife and roughly chopped)
Thumb sized piece of ginger roughly chopped (no need to peel it)
1/2 red chilli roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 spring onion roughly chopped
Heat the oil gently in a saucepan until it starts to smoke slightly.
Bash all of the above ingredients using a pestle and mortar until they’re slightly broken down but not yet into a paste. Remove half of the mixture and place into a heat proof bowl. Add 1tsp chilli flakes and pour over the hot oil and leave it to sizzle. Set aside.
For the rest of the soup:
2 noodle nests (any noodles will do and just cook to packet instructions
Use any veggies and protein for topping (I like a soft boiled egg and choi sum and tenderstem broccoli, which I cook separately and set aside).
150ml coconut cream (not coconut milk)
1 1/2pint veggie stock
1tbsp soy sauce
1 star anise
Add the remaining rough paste made earlier to a saucepan and cook out gently in a touch of oil until fragrant. Add the stock, coconut cream, soy sauce and star anise and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the noodles and cook to packet instruction.
Pour the broth and noodles into a bowl, top with the greens and egg or protein of choice and drizzle over the oil. Enjoy!