Spicy Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

The thing about being sick and single is that you have no one to make chicken soup for you.

I had a Blue Apron recipe ready to make, fortunately. They portion and package all the ingredients I needed to make this soup. I still had to chop the vegetables, but it turned out wonderfully. In the future, I might find it hard to find Canton noodles or have chicken demi-glace (demi-glace au poulet) on hand. And they also forgot to include the red curry paste. Considering my throat was burning, I didn’t need extra spice anyways. Once finished, this soup really hit the spot and helped me feel much better.

Wash and dry the vegetables. Slice or quarter the mushrooms. Peel and mince the garlic and ginger. Thinly slice the scallions, keeping the white and green parts separated. Slice the green bell pepper into long strips and discard the inside seeds and stem. Zest the lime to produce about 2 teaspoons of lime zest. Be careful not to get the bitter ring underneath the green flesh. Quarter the lime and save for garnish later. Pick the cilantro leaves off the stems.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In a medium pot, heat about 2 teaspoons of oil on medium-high until hot. The oil will be less viscous and shimmer when it is warm enough. Add the seasoned chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 to 6 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate, leaving any browned bits (or fond) in the pot.

In the same pot, add 2 teaspoons of oil to the reserved fond. Briefly heat on medium-high heat until hot. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 4 minutes, or until browned. Add the bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes, or until the bell pepper has softened slightly, but isn’t completely cooked. Add the garlic, ginger, white bottoms of the scallions, and lime zest. Cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic during this process.

To the pot of vegetables, add as much of the curry paste as you’d like. Cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until toasted and fragrant. Add the chicken demi-glace, Worcestershire sauce, and 5 cups of water. Stir in the browned chicken (along with any juices from the plate). Heat to boiling on high. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes, or until slightly reduced in volume.

Add the noodles to the pot of soup. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes, or until the noodles are tender. Turn off the heat and stir in the juice of 2 lime wedges. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When finished cooking, serve and garnish with the green scalliong tops, cilantro, and lime wedges. If you hate cilantro, like I do, then just skip that part.