Pak Choi Soup

I've been promising this recipe to family members for far too long. So here it is: the delicious and firm-favourite: Pak Choi soup! We adapted this recipe from Michael van Straten's wonderful book 'Super Soups'.




Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 packet of pak choi/bok choi (stems chopped off, leaves thinly sliced)
2 chicken breasts, skinned and boned and cubed
Chillies, to taste, sliced (we use 4 or 5 little red ones)
1.3 litres chicken stock
1 tsp chopped garlic
A handful of button mushrooms (or any mushrooms really)
1 bunch of angel hair noodles (the very thin rice noodles - egg noodles aren't suited to this recipe, in my opinion)
Soy sauce, to taste

Method:

Sauté the onions in the olive oil for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic and chillies for another minute or two. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the pak choi stems and the chicken, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. This is where our recipe differs from Michael van Straten's - he removes the stems after a few minutes, but we like them, so we leave them in. Once the chicken is cooked through (a few minutes) add the mushrooms and angel hair and simmer for another 4 or 5 minutes till the noodles are cooked and stir through the pak choi leaves, splash in about a tablespoonful of soy sauce and Bob's your uncle. This serves up about 4 bowls.