NOODLE SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Noodles are the second most-consumed food in the world, and a staple in Chinese cuisine. Whether you slurp them, gulp them down, or twirl them with your chopsticks, everyone seems to love noodles.

The noodle recipes in Chinese cuisine can conveniently be divided into soup noodles, pot noodles, hot-gravy noodles, cold-gravy noodles, steamed noodles and stir-fried noodles.

In my family, my second daughter is the real noodle lover. She loves any kind of noodles but her favorite is the soup noodles. For her, there is no food quite so comforting than a bowl of hot noodle soup.

In Indonesia, the way most Chinese restaurants sell Chinese Noodles Soup is either in the form of dry seasoned noodles plus a separate hot soup or a noodle soup dish where they pour the hot soup into the noodle and then top with the meat and vegetables. I prefer the dry seasoned noodle with a separate soup.

One day I was inspired to try cooking Chinese noodles soup when I watched Chef in Black in Asian Food Channel. I did not follow all the details of the ingredients and method he used, but I have captured enough to figure it out myself how to make it. After finished with my first trial of cooking the Chinese noodle soup, I asked my daughter the noodle lover, to try it out and ….she liked it!

Here is my version of Chinese Noodle Soup.

Main basic ingredient:

• 1 pack of dry Chinese egg-noodles

• 
  
  A bunch of Choy Sum or Bok Choy

Meat Ingredients:

• 100 gram ground chicken meat mixed with 100 gram ground beef
• 50 gram of Shiitake mushroom and 100 gram of buttorn mushroom, cut into small pieces
• 4 cloves of crush garlic, chopped
• 1 cm ginger, grated
• 2-3 of green onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Seasoning Mix for the meat

• 1 tablespoon of sweet noodle sauce
• 1 teaspoon of Chinese rice wine
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• A little bit of pepper

Cooking the Meat

• Heat oil in a wok and stir fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant
• Add the mixed ground meat and cook until crumbled
• Add the mushroom
• Add the seasoning mix and stir fry briskly
• Add the green onion

Cooking the vegetables

• On a high heat bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
• Immerse the Choy Sum or Bok Choy in the water for 1 around minutes
• Drain the water and cut the vegie in 5 cm length

Cooking the noodles

• On a high heat bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
• Immerse the noodle in the boiling water.
• Keep the water at a vigorous boil; the constant motion will prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan and each other.
• Cook the noodle just until al dente and drain the water
• Put the noodle in a large bowl and season with combined mixture of
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Cooking the Soup

• Heat chicken broth in a high heat
• Add meat balls (if desired). Season with salt & pepper

In an individual bowl, put a bundle of noodles then add the meat and vegetables

Serve it together with the hot meatball soup