My friends served this the other day at their house, and I loved it so much I had to do it for the blog. You can basically customise it to suit you once you have made the broth and it looks impressive at a dinner party served up in a big bowl with all the fresh herbs on top. My version is vegan but you can add eggs or fish if you prefer. You can also add veg from the fridge that you want to use up too. It’s absolutely delicious and perfect if you have a cold as it’s got all the healing ingredients, like chilli, garlic and ginger and broth.

Recipe

Serves 6 or halve the recipe for 2 to 3.

Ingredients

For the broth

3 vegetable Knorr stock pots (if you are adding fish you can use their fish stock pots)
10 cups of water
1 large shallot peeled and halved lengthwise
3 whole cloves
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 inch thumb of ginger peeled and sliced
soy sauce to taste (I used a tablespoon but you can serve it with more)

What goes on top

There are no measurements here as it’s up to you how much you put in and you can put in all or a selection of whatever you like or prefer, I can get most of the ingredients in a supermarket or I go to my local Asian supermarket.

a packet noodles (I use brown rice, but you can use buckwheat, egg noodles or whichever you prefer)
spring onions chopped or julienned
fresh finely sliced chilli
a bunch of mint
a bunch of Thai basil
a bunch of fresh coriander
bean sprouts
an assortment of mushrooms (I use shitaki, enoki and bunashimeji but any mushrooms you fancy or are available)
fried tofu
chopped roasted peanuts
bok choi or pak choi cut in half lengthwise and sautéed
Sriracha to taste
about 4 limes cut into wedges
sushi ginger
soft boiled eggs cut in half (optional)
assorted seafood sautéed (optional)

How:

Firstly make the broth by simmering all the broth ingredients together for half an hour. I strained mine afterwards to keep the broth clear.
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, don’t over cook, keep them with a tiny bit of bite. At the same time sauté the bok choi in a little olive oil , and poach the mushrooms in the broth for a few minutes and scoop out with a slotted spoon.
Drain the noodles when they are ready, and ladle the hot broth into bowls (I use a massive serving bowl on the table and people can help themselves)
Place all the rest of the ingredients, the cooked mushrooms and bok choi on top of the broth and serve straight away garnished with the fresh herbs on the top.

I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl