Chicken Glass Noodle Soup Vietnamese (Mien Ga) Style

Chicken noodle soup is a perfect comfort food when feeling unwell or just recovering from an illness. But after living in India for more than two years, I am always craving for more flavour, not necessarily spicy-hot though, in the food that I eat. So this time around, it was a simple but very flavourful Vietnamese inspired chicken and glass noodle soup, kind of like mien ga. Though I don't claim any authenticity in this recipe of mine. I made it from scratch and with what was available in my kitchen. Instead of making your own spiced chicken stock, you can buy some and infuse it with, for example, fresh ginger, lemon grass, white pepper corns. And most importantly, do use your imagination when choosing the garnish!

You will need: Chicken stock: ~ 1/2 kg of misc. chicken parts (backs, wings, necks, etc.) ~2.5 cm ginger piece, sliced 1 tsp of pepper corns salt to taste ~2 l of water Soup: 1 cup sliced chicken, skinless, breast or thighs ~100 g of glass noodles, soaked in water for 10 mins ~1 l of the chicken stock handful of greens, I used radish leaves, coarsely chopped fish sauce to taste 2 tbsp lime juice Garnish: fresh corriander bean sprouts chillies, chopped (optional) lime wedges 1. To make the chicken stock, cover chicken parts with plenty of water, add sliced ginger, pepper corns and salt, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 1-2 hours. Once ready, strain and let it cool. Finally, remove the fat from the top. It can be kept in the freezer for a couple of months. 2. In a pot, pour around 1 l of the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken pieces, fish sauce and lime juice and let it simmer for around 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. 3. Strain the glass noodles and cut them into desired length. Add the noodles and greens into the soup just for a few minutes. 4. When ready to serve, put chicken and noodles into a big soup bowl and pour the stock over them. Garnish with fresh greens and herbs and serve with lime wedges on the side.

Enjoy!

~If using regular chicken stock, simmer it with some fresh sliced ginger, crushed lemon grass stems, white pepper corns and strain before serving.
~ You can use sliced leftover/cooked chicken instead of raw chicken in the soup.

Baked Sardines Greek Style

We had some fresh sardines in the freezer and were looking for good ideas to use them. Even though sardines are a favourite delicacy in South India, i.e., Kerala and Tamil Nadu (called mathi or challai), when we think of sardines, Greece, Portugal and Italy come to mind. After doing some research, we decided to try out this traditional Greek preparation. What a find! Very simple, yet very delicious baked sardines Greek style. All flavours work very well together, none is overpowering and you can still taste the fresh sardines. It is excellent as a snack along with some chilled beer or as a main dish with a simple green salad on a hot day - like we are having this summer over here. OPA! :o)

You will need: ~700 g of fresh sardines, cleaned ~5-6 garlic cloves, chopped ~1 tbsp of oregano lots of olive oil 1/2 lime juice and some lime for serving salt 1. Preheat the oven to 180 C degrees. 2. Line up the sardines on a baking dish and generously sprinkle with salt, oregano, garlic, fresh juice of 1/2 lime and lots of olive oil. 3. Bake the sardines for about 40-45 minutes. Serve right away with along with lime wedges.

Enjoy!

Chicken Soup with Lemon Grass, Ginger and a Bunch of Veggies

This is not your ordinary chicken soup. This is Tom Yum meets Chicken Soup for your soul! This soup was inspired by a piece of lemon grass that I found at the bottom of a vegetable tray in our fridge that was still in a good shape and I didn't want to risk losing it to the trash can eventually. I had leftovers of a simple rosemary roast chicken from the last night and I made some chicken stock using parts, namely legs, that I cut off before roasting the chicken. That's the thing, if you buy a whole chicken in India, you will get lots of spare parts with it. Shame on me, but I often end up throwing most of them out, except for our cats eating a few that they like. But not anymore. I made some nice stock by simmering the legs in a pot with water. Then I inspected the fridge again and saw what veggies I could find. But don't be limited by my selection and feel free to add, for example, corn or leek, or broccoli, etc. Just add the veggies in the order of their cooking time. It turned out to be a very flavourful chicken soup, but not as spicy as your typical Tom Yum soup, which must be one of my favourite comfort foods in this world. I felt completely relaxed and rejuvenated after having whole two bawls of this soup at night after a long week in the office.

If you don't have roast chicken leftovers, just raw chicken pieces, dice the pieces and saute them lightly along with the veggies before adding them to the soup and cooking. You might want to add just a little bit of rosemary or thyme to the soup in this case. I added my leftover chicken with rosemary sprigs and it added a nice touch to the soup.

You will need: leftover of ~1/3 small roasted chicken, diced 1 medium onion, chopped 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 carrot, diced 3 spring onions, white and green part, chopped 3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into medium size pieces ~1 cup of frozen peas 1 stalk of lemon grass, only white part, cut into a few bigger pieces ~3 cm ginger piece, cut into bigger pieces 1 green chili, halved and seeds removed 3-4 cup of chicken stock a bit of olive oil salt and pepper to taste 1. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the lemon grass stalk, ginger pieces, green chili and potatoes, season to your taste and let it simmer it for about 7 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan and first fry the onion till it gets translucent, don't let it brown. Add the white part of spring onion, garlic and carrots and saute for a few more minutes. 3. Add the sauteed onion, carrots and chicken pieces to the stock and let it simmer for ~5-7 more minutes. 4. Add the peas and let it simmer for a few more minutes. Just before it is ready, add the green part of the spring onion. That's it!

Enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

I don't make soups that often and when I make it, I tend to repeat a few same favourite recipes, like this one. This week dinners were inspired by improvising with whatever I could find in my emptying fridge. And sometimes I get lucky to find some long forgotten goodies hiding in the furthest corner or at the back of a vegetable tray. Initially, I was not planning to post this soup recipe, but that changed once I tasted it. So creamy and comforting, slightly sweet pumpkin, just noticeable trace of roasted garlic, smoothing coconut milk, roasted cumin seeds explode with flavour once you bite into one. I had to add green chili, but not too much, as I like a little kick in my food, but it can be skipped if you prefer it more bland. Bacon is absolutely optional, we just like when there is something chewable in a creamy soup. Bacon can be replaced with, for example, roasted pumpkin seeds.

You will need (makes 3 servings): 250 g pumpkin 1 medium onion, sliced 3-4 garlic cloves 200 ml coconut milk ~2 cups of chicken/vegetable stock (a cube dissolved in water will also do) 1 green chili, halved and seeds removed (optional) salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp cumin seeds, dry roasted some bacon pieces, fried (optional) 1 tsp of oil for frying 1. Cut the pumpkin into a few big pieces and boil it in a little bit of water for around 5-7 minutes or until it becomes soft. Let it cool down and cut off the skin and put pumpkin flesh into a blender/food processor. 2. Roast the whole garlic cloves for about 10-12 minutes at 200 C in the oven. 3. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry the onions till they brown slightly and get nicely caramelized. 4. Add peeled roasted garlic cloves and the onion into the blender along with the pumpkin flesh and blend it till you get a smooth paste. You can add a drop of water if needed. 5. In a soup pot, mix together 2/3 of coconut milk and about 2 cups of chicken/vegetable stock. Add the pumpkin pure and green chili halves and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for a little bit, see if you need to add more water. Season it with salt and pepper to your liking and just before it is done, mix in the rest of fresh coconut milk. 5. Just before serving, garnish with roasted cumin seeds and fried bacon pieces or roasted pumpkin seeds (optional).

Enjoy!

Green Masala Fish Fry

Fish fry was definitely one the best discoveries for me in India. And this is one of my favourite masalas. It is fresh coriander based and it is very simple and quick to make. But the result is this aromatic, slightly tangy, fresh, simply delicious fish fry. My mouth is watering while just describing it to you. Adjust amount of green chilies according to your tolerance for spiciness and you can use either white vinegar or lime/lemon juice for sourness. We fried rawas this time, but any white fish will do. Serve it with either fresh salad or rice, as a starter or part of the main course. It's excellent with cold beer! =)

You will need: ~750 g of white fish a handful of fresh coriander 1/2 medium onion 1-2 green chilies (you can remove the seeds to reduce the spiciness) juice of one lime OR 2 tbsp of white vinegar 8-10 black pepper corns salt to taste oil for frying 1. Clean the fish and cut it into about 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick slices. 2. Put into a blender/food processor: onion, coriander, green chilies, pepper corns, lime juice (or vinegar) and salt to taste. Blend it till you get a smooth paste. 3. Rub the fresh masala onto both sides of the fish slices and let it marinate for at least 15 minutes. 4. Heat some oil in a frying pan. It's better to used a frying pan that has a lid as the hot oil might splash while frying. Once the oil is hot and nice, put the marinated fish slices and fry for around 5 minutes. Turn the slices on the other side and fry for another 3 minutes or till the fish is fully cooked inside and the outside becomes crisp.

Enjoy!