Diaoyutai Noodle Soup

[zhemao]

This is a Japanese-inspired noodle soup dish of my own creation. If you're wondering what to do with the leftover chicken broth from making Hainanese Chicken, this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients:

• Napa cabbage


• Carrots


• Chopped scallions


• Chicken broth (see Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe)


• Egg


• Soy sauce


• Sugar


• Shaoxing rice wine (or sake)


• Dried Chinese black mushroom or Shiitake mushroom


• Wheat noodles (I use Wumu brand dried lamian, but any kind of Asian-style wheat noodle would do; you could probably even use instant ramen)


• Dried seaweed (nori)

Directions:

1. Peel the carrots and thorougly wash the Napa cabbage.


2. Chop the cabbage into bite sized pieces and slice the carrots into thin slices


3. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the noodles


4. Cook the noodles just until they become flexible (in the case of dried noodles) or completely separate (in the case of instant ramen or frozen udon). You don't want to cook all the way in this step.


5. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water. This keeps the noodles from sticking together. Put the noodles in a bowl and set aside.


6. Reconstitute the mushrooms by soaking them in a bowl of cold water. After they have rehydrated, squeeze out the liquid and set the mushrooms aside. Save the water as well.


7. Add the mushroom water to the pot and top it off with more water.


8. Turn the heat to high and add a dash of rice wine.


9. Wait for the water to boil and the alcohol to burn off.


10. Add a splash of soy sauce. You don't need much, just enough to make the broth turn a reddish color.


11. Add about a teaspoon of sugar.


12. Add a few ladlefuls of chicken broth.


13. Add the napa cabbage and carrots.


14. Once the water starts boiling again, turn the heat to medium low, cover, and let simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Add in the mushrooms halfway, since they won't take as long to cook.


15. Use a strainer to remove the vegetables from the broth and set aside.


16. Add the noodles to the broth and simmer until cooked. This shouldn't take very long.


17. Use the strainer to remove the noodles from the broth and put back in the bowl.


18. Quickly bring the broth back up to boil and crack in a single egg


19. Poach the egg until the whites change color and become solid


20. Pour the egg and broth over the noodles, top with the cooked vegetables, chopped scallions, and one or two slices of dried seaweed


21. If you have some Hainanese chicken left over, you can add a few slices to the soup

And there you have it. The chicken broth and mushroom give the soup a really savory flavor that gets absorbed by the veggies, noodles, and egg. You can mix up the ingredients as you see fit. If you can't find napa cabbage, regular cabbage would do, though you'd have to cook it longer. If you don't have any chicken broth left over that you can use, you could probably substitute dashi, chicken stock, or a bouillon cube. Just make sure to add a few slices of ginger if you do.

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