Tea House Chicken Soup
My version is (I assume) much easier
than the delicious Chicken and Noodle Soup served at
the Tea House in the basement of the Grand Hotel in
Taipei during the 1980's. The broth is very light
and scented with rich sesame oil. Use a low-salt or
salt-free stock as soy sauce is quite salty.
3 cups (two 14-oz cans is okay) best-quality chicken
stock
One large boneless, skinless chicken breast half
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil (plus additional as a garnish,
if desired)
3 ozs dried udon or spaghetti noodles,
cooked according to package directions
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach leaves
1 green onion, sliced fine
Heat the stock in a medium sauce pan with the
chicken breast. Poach the chicken, covered, for ten
to fifteen minutes, or until just cooked through.
Remove stock from heat. Place the cooked chicken
breast on a plate and, using two forks, shred the
meat. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package
directions.
Add the soy sauce, dry sherry and sesame oil to the
chicken stock. Stir to combine. Heat stock to
simmer.
Divide the fresh (uncooked) spinach leaves between
two large soup bowls:
Divide the drained noodles between the two soup bowls:
Divide the shredded chicken between the two soup bowls:
Finally, ladle the hot broth over the spinach, noodles and
chicken. Garnish with sliced green onion. Serve sesame oil at the table for
additional drizzling, if desired:
Hao Shyr!
The hot broth will cook the spinach leaves and the entire dish comes
together to a fragrant bowl of happiness!
Serves two.
Read my
blog post about this soup
print recipe