Jamie calls his Asian Chicken Noodle Broth & that's what the guys had but we made two soups last night, one with veggie broth & tofu for me. Yum.
Let me know if you try it too.
Jamie says you can make it in 17 minutes (if you can multitask). We never work as quickly as him.He says, "This is a really quick dish but you're going to have to multitask, cooking your veg & noodles in one pan & your chicken in another. Read through the recipe before you start so you'll be prepared for what's going to happen. You'll be amazed at the results - just like something you can get in a posh noodle bar." (True.)
serves 2 (we doubled it so each version served 2)
1 Tablespoon mixed seeds (pumpkin, poppy, sunflower) - we used all three & some sesame
a small handful of raw cashew nuts
1 quart chicken broth, preferably organic (or organic veggie broth)
2 skinless chicken breast fillets, preferably free-range, organic
(We asked the butcher to slice them into strips.)
Or one 10 oz pkg of Super Firm tofu, cut into strips (I like Wildwood.)
2 teaspoons five-spice powder (I wasn't sure how I was supposed to know which five spices he meant but the guys at the meat counter said there was a spice called five-spice powder. Sure enough, in the spice isle, there it was.)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
1/2 - 1 fresh red chile, to your taste (We ended up sharing one.)
4 ounces rice sticks or vermicelli (We didn't see these particular noodles at our store, ended up buying something called Chinese Noodles that worked great.)
a handful of snow peas
6 thin asparagus spears or 4 regular-sized spears (We split a bunch.)
6 fresh baby corn or 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (There was no fresh corn at the store this time of year. I was going to use frozen corn kernels but then saw a can of baby corn & used that instead.)
soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
a small handful of spinach leaves
Put a medium frying pan or wok on a high head and add the seeds & cashew nuts to it straight away. (We let the cashews cook a little before adding the smaller seeds so they wouldn't burn.) While it is heating up, put a large saucepan on high heat. Fill the saucepan with the chicken (or veggie) broth, heat until very hot, and put a lid on it. (Next time, we will do this step later, after cooking the chicken/tofu.) Toss the seeds & nuts around until heated through nicely - this will take a couple of minutes.
While this is happening, slice your chicken breasts lengthways into 3 pieces & put them into a bowl. (Or slice your tofu.) Sprinkel the chicken (or tofu) with the five-spice powder and a good pinch of salt & pepper and stir. When the seeds and nuts are done, transfer them to a plate. Put the empty pan back on a high heat. Add a little olive oil to your hot pan with your slices of chicken (or tofu) and cook for 5 minutes, until golden, tossing and turning every now and again.
While the chicken (or tofu) is cooking, peel and finely slice your ginger and slice your chile. Take the lid off the pan with the chicken (or veggie) broth and add half the chile, all the ginger, your rice sticks (or vermicelli) (or Chinese noodles), snow peas, asparagus, and corn with 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stiring. (If your noodles need to be cooked longer, add them first, adding the veggies with only 2-3 minutes of cooking time left. Our Chinese noodles were supposed to be done in 3 minutes, so we were able to add them at the same time as the veggies. We used a fork to separate the noodles.)
Halve the lime & squeeze in the juice. By the time the rice sticks/vermicelli/noodles & veggies are done, the chicken (or tofu) will be cooked. Take a pice of chicken out & slice it lengthways to check it it's cooked all the way through. When done, remove all the chicken from the pan & slice each piece in half to expose the juicy chicken inside. Please don't be tempted to overcook it. (I loved my sauteed tofu, seasoned w/the five spice mix, salt & pepper & kept snacking on it while working on the veggies. I broke the strips up to show the white inside.)
To serve, divide the spinach leaves between your bowls and pour over the broth, rice sticks/vermicelli/noodles, and vegetables. (Our asparagus sunk to the bottom. We had to search of it.) Divide the chicken (or tofu) pieces over and scatter with the toasted seeds, cashews, and remaining chile.Enjoy.
