Ingredients

Method

• 400 g cooked Chinese noodles
• Spring onion, finely chopped, for serving
• Ginger, finely chopped, for serving
• Soy sauce, for drizzling
• Sesame oil, for drizzling
For the broth:
• 1 onion
• A bunch of celery, tops only
• 4 carrots
• 2 leeks
• 5 cups water
• A handful of parsley, chopped
• 2–3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2–3 t salt
• A few peppercorns
• 1–2 T rice-wine vinegar
• 120 g mushrooms (preferably shiitake), cleaned, trimmed and sliced
• 60 g shelled edamame beans or trimmed mangetout
For the crispy tofu:
• 400 g firm tofu
• Sunflower or peanut oil, for frying

Method

Ingredients

To make the broth:

Roughly chop all the vegetables and place them in a large saucepan over a medium to low heat.

Add the water, chopped parsley, garlic, bay leaf and seasoning and simmer for 40 minutes. Strain and discard the residual vegetables, then return the strained liquid to the saucepan and reduce over a high heat for 5 minutes.

Check seasoning and add the vinegar, to taste, mushrooms and edamame beans or mangetout and simmer for a few minutes until just cooked.

To make the crispy tofu:

Pat the tofu dry then slice and fry in hot oil until crisp and golden. Here are more ideas for using tofu.

To serve:

Turn the noodles into four bowls. Ladle over the broth and top with the crisp tofu. Scatter with chopped spring onion and ginger and drizzle with soy and sesame oil, to taste.

LEFTOVERS?

Simmer a punnet of free-range chicken wings in the strained broth. When tender add any leftover vegetables and noodles. Flavour as above.

Per serving: 1755.9 kJ, 16 g protein, 19.3 g fat, 44.6 g carbs