Chicken & Lemongrass Noodle Soup
Joyce created this dish for MasterChef UK ™ Series 22. A Vietnamese-inspired chicken and rice-noodle soup, it pairs a fragrant galangal, ginger and lemongrass broth with shiitake mushrooms, ribbons of sweet soy-egg omelette and a generous scatter of crisp caramelised garlic, served alongside a crunchy sausage-meat spring roll the judges loved. The caramelised garlic, shiitake, soy-egg omelette and beautifully crisp spring roll all landed well, and this Fix-It reconstruction preserves them untouched while rebuilding the one element that under-delivered on the plate — bruising the aromatics, adding them in two stages and seasoning assertively so the galangal, ginger and lemongrass carry clearly into the bowl.
- Time: 160 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- FOR THE AROMATIC CHICKEN BROTH
- Chicken — 2 lb / 900 g, on the bone for body
- Water or light chicken stock — 8 cups / 2 L
- Garlic cloves, smashed — 4, for the broth base
- Shallots, halved and charred — 2, charred for depth
- Lemongrass stalks — 6, bruised hard
- Fresh galangal, sliced — 2 oz / 60 g, generous and bruised
- Fresh ginger, sliced — 1.5 oz / 40 g, bruised
- Coriander stalks — small bunch, tied in
- Fish sauce — 3 tbsp / 45 ml, to lift the aromatics
- Sea salt — 2 tsp, to taste
- Lime juice — 2 tbsp / 30 ml, to finish and brighten
- FOR THE NOODLES & TOPPINGS
- Garlic cloves, finely sliced — 6, for the crispy garlic
- Neutral oil, for frying the garlic — 1/3 cup / 80 ml
- Eggs — 3, for the soy omelette
- Light soy sauce — 2 tsp / 10 ml, for the omelette
- Flat rice noodles — 10 oz / 280 g, soaked per packet
- Shiitake mushrooms, sliced — 6 oz / 170 g
- Spring onions and coriander leaves — to garnish
- FOR THE SAUSAGE-MEAT SPRING ROLLS
- Sausage meat — 9 oz / 250 g
- Shiitake or chestnut mushrooms, diced — 3 oz / 80 g
- Fresh coriander, chopped — 2 tbsp
- Spring roll wrappers — 8
- Oil, for deep-frying — as needed
- EQUIPMENT
- Large stockpot or saucepan for the broth
- Fine-mesh sieve and muslin, for a clear broth
- Rolling pin or heavy pan, to bruise the lemongrass and galangal
- Non-stick frying pan, for the thin omelette and crispy garlic
- Small heavy saucepan, for frying the garlic
- Deep pan or wok with an oil thermometer, for the spring rolls
- Microplane or fine grater
- Tongs and a slotted spoon
- Small bowl for a water/flour sealing paste