Mar 30

Mar 30 Asian Style Fish Broth with Noodles

A deeply satisfying broth which is warming enough for the cold spring evenings but fresh and light with seasonal vegetables and the delicate flavour of cod.

As you make this broth, the house fills with the aromas of lemon grass, ginger and garlic, tempting the family into the kitchen.

My kids were so ready to eat by the time it was served, they slurped down the fish, vegetables and noodles, abandoned their spoons and drank the broth out of the bowl when I first made this for them.

You might like to leave the chillies off if you are making this for children but but it depends how good they are with spicy heat.

The broth on it’s own will freeze if you want to make a big batch. Simply chill and freeze after you sieve out the shallots, lemon grass, garlic and ginger.

Method

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 15 mins

You will need a large heavy based saucepan.

Peel and thinly slice the garlic, shallots, and ginger. Cut off the end of the lemon grass and give it a good bash on the kitchen counter. This should loosen the tougher outer leaves. Peel these away and chop the remaining lemon grass.

Make the stock, using half fish stock and half chicken stock.

Gently heat the rapeseed oil in the saucepan and add the garlic, shallots, lemon grass and ginger. Cook for 4-5 minutes so that they all soften but do not turn brown.

Next, add the rice wine vinegar to the pan, followed by the stock, fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir until they are combined. Bring the broth to the boil and simmer vigorously for 10 minutes without the lid on.

Meanwhile put a small pan of water on to boil for the noodles. Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions. Drain, toss in sesame oil and divide between the bowls.

Slice the shitake mushrooms and cut the broccoli into 5cm pieces. Skin the cod fillets and cut into 5 cm pieces. Chop the spring onions, removing the tips and green stalks.

After the 10 minutes is up, strain the broth through a sieve into a bowl or large jug and return to the pan. This is the point at which you can chill and freeze the broth.

The broth will sit quite happily with a lid on until you are ready to use it if you have any broth ingredients to finish off preparing.

When you are ready, bring the broth up to the boil and add the broccoli and mushrooms. Cook for 1 minute. Add the spring onions and fish and gently simmer for another 2-3 minutes, until the fish is just cooked.

Turn off the heat and, using a slotted spoon, carefully lift out the fish and vegetables and place on top of the noodles in the bowls.

Carefully, pour over the broth, dividing evenly between bowls. Finally, tear a few coriander leaves and place on top of the broth, along with a few slices of chilli and a lime wedge.

Serve immediately.

Ingredients

Broth

1.2 litres of stock (50/50 chicken and fish stock)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 inch piece of fresh ginger thinly sliced

1 stem of lemon grass

2 garlic cloves thinly sliced

2 Eschalion shallots thinly sliced

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar