Fragrance Is In The Air: Asian Noodle Shrimp Soup

Photo: Sanura Weathers

Ingredients

4 inches piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 cinnamon sticks

1 star anise, left whole

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons Asian chili garlic paste

3 cups low-sodium chicken stock/broth

1/8 cup sherry 1 tbsp. honey

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup to ½ soy sauce, low sodium if possible

1 pound of shrimp, cleaned and deveined*

5 baby bok choy

8 ounces to 10 Asian soba wheat or white noodles

4 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation

Heat peanut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add cinnamon sticks and star anise. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add ginger, garlic and chili paste. Stir until fragrant, about 30 minutes.

Add chicken stock, sherry, honey, water and soy sauce. Bring stock to a boil. Cover and reduce to a low heat. Let soup simmer for at least 30 minutes to one hour.

Meanwhile, clean bok choy by cutting and discarding the stem. Then cut in half length-wise and cut into quarters. Very roughly chop into smaller pieces (no more than 3 chops). Rinse bok choy three times to remove dirt. Place aside.

Prepare noodles according the package’s directions, but cook noodles al dente. When finished, run cool water over noodles to stop them from cooking and place aside.

After a half or one hour, add bok choy to the broth. After three minutes, add shrimp and spring onions. The bok choy and the shrimp should cook a total of 5 minutes or until shrimp is thoroughly cooked. Do not overcook the ingredients.

Serving the soup: Place noodles in bowls. Ladle soup over noodles. Garnish with green onions.

Normally, I prefer baby shrimp in recipes for its sweeter taste. The larger, meatier shrimp is a better choice for this recipe, because it holds up well against the complex flavors. Whenever possible, fresh, local shrimp that has never been frozen is always the best choice. And, wild caught seafood has more flavor than farm raised.

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About

The smell of Star anise, cinnamon, chili, ginger and garlic makes a good cooking bath for chicken or seafood. The boyfriend declared this to be the best Asian dish. He quickly ate three bowls; luckily this is a low-fat meal. A bowl was packed for Wednesday’s lunch. It’s in the freezer, for it’ll defrost on starting Tuesday morning. It seems there was extra broth left over. I strained the broth and placed it in the freezer for a future recipe. Perhaps, I’ll a steam or braise a fish.