By the time Autumn comes around I am looking for any excuse to cook something other than a barbecue and salad, something a little bit comforting with the onset of the cooler weather. The day I made this it was 27°C but it didn’t stop the whole family tucking into this bowl of fragrant, coconuty delight! Really fresh, simple, healthy and importantly a meal that doesn’t pull too heavily on the purse strings. Another winner chicken dinner!
Prep time: 20 Minutes Cooking time: 30 Minutes $ Low Budget
Serves 4
2 x chicken breast fillets
1 x 375gm packet of medium thickness rice noodles
1 stalk of lemon grass, bruised with the back of your knife
2 red chillies, split down the middle from about halfway
4 kaffir lime leaves
5cm piece of ginger, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and bruised
3 spring onions, ends removed and halved
Roots and stalks of a bunch of coriander, rinsed well and leaves reserved for garnish
3 cups of chicken stock (salt reduced preferably)
1 x 400gm tin of coconut cream
Juice of 1 lime
3 tbs of fish sauce
1 tbs of grated palm sugar (brown sugar will do)
200gm of snow peas, ends trimmed and halved
1 bunch of baby bok choy, sliced into quarters lengthways
2 spring onions, finely sliced diagonally
1 long red chilli, seeds removed and sliced into thin strips
Place the stock, coconut cream, ginger, chilli, garlic, lemongrass, lime leaves, spring onions and coriander roots and stems in a large saucepan and stir well to combine. Bring it to the boil nice and slowly and allow it to come to a simmer. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar and stir to combine. Have a little taste at this point and adjust the fish sauce or sugar if needed. You should have the perfect balance of hot, salty, sweet & sour.
Make sure the soup is on a nice low simmer and gently place the chicken breasts in the liquid. Pop a lid on and let the breasts poach gently for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the breasts from the liquid and set aside to cool slightly. Once cooled use a pair of tongs and a fork to shred the breast meat into nice stringy pieces.
Drain the stock into a large bowl through a fine sieve (or use a slotted spoon) and discard the aromatics. Pour the stock back into the pot and bring back to a simmer. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water for approximately 6 minutes or until just tender. Drain and divide among four large serving bowls.
Bring the kettle to the boil. Place the bok choy and snow peas in a large bowl (you can recycle the stock draining one to save on washing up) and pour over boiling water from the kettle. Leave it for about 2 minutes and drain the water away. Arrange the veggies and shredded chicken on top of the noodles and ladle over the soup stock.
Mix the chilli, coriander and spring onion in a small bowl and toss gently with your fingers. Divide among the four bowls and arrange nice little piles on top of the soup and serve.
Made this for dinner tonight, absolutely delicious. Thanks for the great dish.
It is yum isn’t it? Glad you liked it 🙂
Only one word for this……. DELISH!!!!
Yep, agreed. Love this soup too!
This was fantastic!! I didn’t have the lime leaf but it was still delish!!!
Made this with a few variations due to what i had, I added a little mint and basil and 2 cups of bean shoots to the salad mix as i had no baby bok choy. Was fantastic and can’t wait to eat leftovers tomorrow!
Sounds lovely! Glad you liked it!
Made this for dinner tonight. DELICIOUS! So fresh and flavoursome. Even the kids devoured it, chilli and all!
Glad you all loved it!
This was soo good! hoping the noodles keep well as i cooked enough for a couple of nights 🙂
They may go a little soft Jayme, but I am sure they will still taste good!
Em
I seriously love this dish. I have made it half a dozen times now and is always a hit for friends & family.
I would love to see your version of a beef pho noodle soup! Can’t find a recipe I want to attempt on the web yet.
Keep the good food coming.
Cheers
James
Hi James…..on my “to do” list. I will put my thinking cap on and come up with one soon. Thanks for the comment, Cheers Em
Cheers em
Looking forward to it
uhuh…uhuh uhuh uhuh!
Haha! Glad you liked it Liv La x