Golden Chicken
Mushroom Soup Noodles
Savor the comforting flavors of this golden chicken noodle soup. Made with free-range chicken, intensely aromatic dried mushrooms, and a restorative, clear broth.
In home cooking, a proper chicken soup is celebrated for its restorative properties and pure, unadulterated flavor. By stir-frying the chicken before simmering, the natural fats render into a rich, golden broth that requires no MSG—just the deep, earthy umami of dried mushrooms and a splash of rice wine.
Ingredients
- 500 g free-range chicken pieces
- 30 g mixed dried mushrooms
- 3 slices fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1.5 l hot water
- 200 g wheat or rice noodles
- to taste salt
- optional fresh scallions
Instructions
- 1Stir-fry chicken and ginger
Place the fresh free-range chicken pieces and sliced ginger directly into a hot wok without blanching. Stir-fry them together over medium-high heat until the moisture evaporates and the natural chicken fat begins to render out.
Tip: Skipping the blanching step and frying directly helps lock in the chickens flavor and renders the fat for a more fragrant soup. - 2Add rice wine
Once the chicken is slightly browned and the fat has rendered, pour a splash of rice wine over the meat in the wok. Stir well to combine, allowing the alcohol to evaporate.
Tip: Adding rice wine at this stage helps to eliminate any gamey odors and significantly enhances the aroma of the chicken. - 3Add hot water
Pour enough hot water into the wok to completely cover the chicken pieces. Bring the liquid to a simmer to create the base of the broth.
Tip: Using hot water instead of cold water prevents the chicken meat from seizing up and becoming tough, ensuring a tender bite. - 4Incorporate dried mushrooms
Add the soaked dried mushrooms into the bubbling broth. Let them simmer together with the chicken to allow their concentrated earthy flavors to infuse into the soup.
Tip: Using dried mushrooms that have been soaked for about ten minutes yields a much richer and more intense aroma compared to using fresh mushrooms. - 5Transfer to rice cooker
Carefully pour the chicken, mushrooms, and the hot broth from the wok into a rice cooker pot. Set the rice cooker to stew for 1.5 hours.
Tip: If you have more time and prefer traditional methods, you can use a clay pot instead of a rice cooker for stewing. - 6Season the soup
After stewing for 1.5 hours, carefully open the rice cooker. Taste the rich broth and stir in salt to your preference, keeping in mind the savory depth already provided by the concentrated mushrooms.
Tip: Since the chicken was stir-fried in its own fat earlier, skimming the top layer ensures a clean, rich, yet light broth. - 7Skim the excess fat
After the chicken soup has finished simmering, carefully use a ladle to skim off the excess chicken fat from the surface. This ensures the broth is clear, fragrant, and light, preventing the soup from feeling greasy when served.
Tip: If you are not serving the soup immediately, letting it cool slightly makes the fat solidify, which makes it even easier to remove. - 8Assemble the noodle bowl
Boil your choice of noodles separately until tender. Once ready, ladle the hot mushroom and chicken soup generously over the cooked noodles in a serving bowl. Ensure each portion has a good mix of chicken pieces, mushrooms, and broth.
Tip: For the best texture, serve the noodles immediately while they are hot so they dont absorb too much broth and become soft.
