Happy soup

Lately I’ve been trying to perfect a roast chicken meal based on Heston Blumenthal’s method of very slow, followed by very fast. So far, so good - but not yet ready for its Bachelor Food debut.

As I write this, the chicken is brining ahead of picking up my boys for an atheist Good Friday dinner.

While I’ve been experimenting, I’ve had lots of leftover chicken to make use of. And lots of beautiful stock to cook with!

I can tell I’m making progress with the roast chicken, because the last school morning the boys were with me, after breakfast, they smelled the chicken out of the fridge in the kitchen and lined up at my shoulder saying - can I have a slice now? - as I carved for their sandwiches.

But back to the soup…

Of the Chinese staples it’s the breakfast stuff I like the most. A Chinese omelette is hard to beat. Even better is the chicken and corn soup.

My bachelor food rebrands for chicken lately have been laksa, tom kha gai - and this one. So simple. And guaranteed to make you smile.

This is a bachelor food version - meaning it is more a main meal rather than an entrée or breakfast. So noodles and sliced veggies make their appearance. The dried and fresh chillies can easily be omitted if you or your kids don’t like it hot.

Chicken and corn soup

Serves two

Ingredients

• .5 chicken breast already roasted, and shredded
• 2 cups strained chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 2 dried chillies
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• .5 cup sliced mushrooms
• .25 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
• .25 cup sliced carrots
• 1 small can creamed corn (310 grams)
• 2 birds eye (or similar) chillies, sliced
• 2 egg whites, beaten
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
• Garnish with drizzle of 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce, some sliced shallots
• Handful of rice noodles

Method

Dissolve cornflour in water.

In a deep saucepan, sauté ginger and dried chilli until ginger softens. Then add carrots, sauté for 5 minutes, then and mushrooms for another 5.

Cook noodles in plenty of boiling water until soft, but not mushy. Err on the side of firmness, because you will be adding it to the hot soup, where it will cook further.

Add stock and raise heat to highest. Add tomatoes, creamed corn and shredded chicken. Add sesame oil and light soy.

Once the soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and stir in the cornflour mixture (you will probably need to give the cornflour a last stir to that the mixture is even). The soup will thicken after a couple of minutes.

Then drizzle in the beaten egg whites. They will form lovely white strings through the soup.

Serve into noodles into each bowl, add enough soup to almost cover. Garnish with shallots and a drizzle of dark soy.