Malaysian chicken noodle soup

Preparation – 20 minutes

Make a smooth spice paste: you can use a mortar and pestle or a blender for this. Use the ginger, garlic cloves, peppercorns, coriander, cumin and turmeric.

Clean the chicken breasts and cut them into long strips. Place the chicken strips in a resealable bag and add the spice paste. Place this in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, hard boil the eggs for about 9 minutes. Finely chop the spring onions. Remove the seeds from the red and green chillies and slice them into fine rings.

Making the Malaysian chicken broth – 40 minutes

Peel the onions and chop them finely. Cut the lemongrass stalks into smaller pieces so that they fit in the saucepan. Heat a little sunflower oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onions, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, bay leaves and lemongrass.

Sauté until the onions start to brown, then add the marinated chicken strips and cook for a further 10 minutes over a medium heat, turning the chicken regularly.

Pour in 3 litres of chicken stock and let everything simmer for around 25 minutes. Boil a kettle of water and pour it over the noodles.

Let the noodles soak for a few minutes, then rinse them in cold water to prevent sticking, then drain. Remove the chicken strips from the broth and let them cool slightly.

Remove all the spices from the chicken broth and skim off any fat from the surface. Once the chicken has cooled, shred it with a fork.

Finishing the Malaysian chicken noodle soup – 10 minutes

Place the noodles in deep plates or bowls. Add a few ladles of hot stock over the noodles add the chicken pieces, slices of boiled potatoes, lime wedges and wedges of hard boiled egg.

Garnish the soup with sliced spring onions, and green and red chillies. You can also add fresh coriander and finely chopped shallot or crispy onions, if you like. Enjoy your meal!