Easy Chinese Soup Noodles with Chicken

Easy Chinese soup noodles start with an aromatic Chinese broth flavoured with garlic, ginger, chilli and soy. Add chicken, crunchy vegetables and noodles for a comforting bowl of soup.

Homemade chicken noodle soup with egg noodles is something I make all the time, particularly one with a Chinese twist. My youngest daughter loves this soup, it's her favourite, even better with a whole pak choi thrown in for good measure.

I worked in China and one of my favourite dishes was Chinese soup noodles, which were always delicious and full of savoury flavour. This is why I like to flavour my broth with garlic, ginger, chilli, Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil, all flavours that are popular in Chinese cuisine.

The key to the success of this simple chicken noodle soup is the Chinese broth base. A good broth is very straightforward to cook, but it does need time to bubble away. Put simply the longer you cook your broth base, the more flavour you will impart into it.

However once the broth is made, it is a quick noodle soup to pull together. Just add the cooked chicken, noodles and vegetables to a bowl, pour over the piping hot stock and serve.

Why you will love this recipe:

• Whilst you need to simmer the broth for a few hours, actual hands on prep time is minimal.
• I love to make a double batch of the broth, enjoy some now and freeze the rest for a quick meal another day.
• For gluten free Chinese soup noodles, use a gluten free chicken stock and swap the egg noodles for rice noodles.

How to make a good Chinese chicken broth?

The secret to this simple chicken noodle soup is a good broth base and that takes time. I love making stocks and sauces and a really good homemade stock does make all the difference to a dish. This particular chicken stock or broth is simplicity itself.

Although you have to let it simmer away for a few hours, the preparation time is minimal. No fancy knife skills required, just cut everything up and throw everything in the pot. Alongside the chicken legs, I add a good selection of vegetables and aromatics to impart a real depth of flavour into the finished broth:

• onion
• leek
• carrot
• celery
• garlic
• ginger
• chilli
• parsley
• black pepper

How to make Chinese soup noodles:

To make the Chinese broth:

• To make the broth for the soup, place the chicken legs in a large stock pan and cover with cold water. Bring the water to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer. Simmer the chicken in this water for 15-20 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface with a large spoon.
• Add the remaining stock ingredients to the pan, with the exception of the soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine and sesame oil!
• Bring the stock to the boil and again turn down to a gentle simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer away gently for 2-3 hours. 

• At the end of the cooking time strain the stock and discard the chicken and vegetables. You should be left with a clear liquid which you can now season to taste with a little soy sauce, and the optional Shaoxing rice wine and sesame oil if you are using them.

To serve:

• When ready to eat, place the cooked noodles, pak choi, shredded chicken, beansprouts and spring onion in a large bowl.

• Gently pour over the hot chicken broth.
• The heat from the broth will heat the noodles and gently cook the vegetables. Serve immediately.

Recipe ingredients & substitutions:

• CHICKEN: I use chicken legs to flavour the stock as they are on the bone, they are full of flavour and also happen to be a cheaper cut, making it economical too. You could use skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks too. I also top the broth up with a good quality, homemade chicken stock to really ramp up the chicken flavour.
• VEGETABLES: the vegetable base for this soup includes leek, carrot, celery and onion, which impart great flavour into the stock.
• AROMATICS: Garlic, root ginger, red chillies and fresh parsley flavour the stock.
• SEASONING: I season the stock with whole black peppercorns, you could also use Sichuan peppercorns for more intense flavour.
• SOY SAUCE: Once cooked, I season the stock with a tablespoons of light soy sauce. Don't add it before, otherwise you risk the stock reducing too much and becoming too salty.
• FLAVOURINGS: I add Shaoxing rice wine and sesame oil to add depth of flavour at the end of the cook, however these ingredients are entirely optional. Taste and add a little at a time, until you are happy with the flavour.

To serve

• NOODLES: I make homemade chicken noodle soup with egg noodles, which I cook first. But you can use any variety of noodles, rice and wheat noodles would work here too.
• CHICKEN: I use shredded cooked chicken in this recipe, it's a great way of using up leftovers from the weekend's roast chicken.
• PAK CHOI: I love pak choi, it's got great crunch and I allow 1 per serving, which I cut in half length-ways. Spinach, kale, or chard would be great substitutions. You will see from the photo above that I sometimes throw in some carrot batons for extra crunch.
• SPRING ONIONS: Spring onions (green onions), are added just before serving as they add a great burst of fresh flavor.
• BEANSPROUTS: I add a handful of beansprouts to each bowl before serving, they add great crunch.

Flavor variations:

I have been know to play around with this stock quite a bit, depending on my mood.  However, what you have here is the dish my daughter loves, the one I use as a base to start. 

• SPICES: This Asian broth uses black peppercorns. However, if I want a bit more spice then I add in a few Sichuan peppercorns which have a lemony, peppery flavour. Also star anise which imparts an aniseed flavour to the finish broth.
• CHILLI: I love my food on the spicy side, so add fresh chillies to the broth. This won't make the broth too spicy, it just adds depth of flavour. If you really don't like chillies leave them out.
• OILS: I also like it with a spot of sesame oil, but this flavour is not to everyone's taste. Sesame oil has a lovely smoky flavour that really adds to the dish. If you wanted to increase the chilli heat, then you could also add some chilli oil to the broth just before serving.
• SEASONING: I like to add light soy sauce to the broth as this add a saltiness to balance the other flavours. However, you could add a touch of dark soy sauce if you wished.

Serving suggestions:

I've served these Chinese soup noodles with shredded cooked chicken, pak choi, beansprouts and some sliced green onion for a burst of freshness.

However, this is a versatile recipe try swapping the chicken for prawns instead. Or add a few slices of Chinese charsui pork or roasted pork belly.

To make vegan soup noodles, swap the chicken broth for a vegetable broth. Then instead of chicken add some vegetables to the broth, I've made some suggestions below:

• spinach
• kale
• water chestnuts
• bamboo shoots
• mushrooms
• spring onions
• broccoli
• green beans
• thin batons of carrot

Recipe hints & tips:

1. Using fresh chicken: This recipe uses cooked shredded chicken, however if you don't have any cooked chicken you can use some sliced fresh chicken. When you are ready to eat, heat up the strained Chinese chicken stock, then add the fresh chicken slices, and allow it to poach in the hot stock until it has cooked through. Then ladle the chicken and Chinese broth over the noodles and vegetables, before serving.
2. Seasoning the broth: Don't add soy sauce until the broth has finished simmering. Soy sauce seasons the broth and you add it to taste once it's cooked, otherwise you risk the stock reducing too much and becoming too salty. The same goes with the Shaoxing rice wine and sesame oil, add them to taste once the broth has cooked. Add little at a time and taste as you go, remember you can add but you can't take away!
3. Allow the Chinese broth to sit: Like all stocks and broths, you will intensify the flavour if you cool the broth after cooking it, and leave it to sit overnight in the fridge. Next day strain the broth to remove the chicken legs and vegetables, which have now done their job, and you will be left with a nice clear broth. Just heat the broth up in a saucepan to piping hot when you are ready to finish the dish.
4. Don't cook the noodles in the broth! One thing I don't do is cook the noodles in the broth! Not only does this tend to overcook the noodles making them soggy, but it also make the broth cloudy.
5. Gluten free: For gluten free Chinese soup noodles, swap wheat based noodles for rice noodles and ensure you use a gluten free chicken stock too.

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Additional recipe suggestions:

If you like this simple chicken noodle soup recipe then try some of our other simple recipes:

• Thai Beetroot Soup
• Garlic Broth
• Traditional French Onion Soup
• Tomato & Basil Soup
• Courgette & Pepper Soup
• Spicy Bean & Vegetable Soup

For some great hints and tips on how to make a great bowl of soup, have a read of our 20 Simple Soup Recipes post. This features some delicious soup recipes for you to try!