This recipe comes from none other than the Sainsbury's website and is very quick and simple. It does require a few specific ingredients for an authentic look and taste, but at the same time I shall suggest a few alternatives you may be more likely to have in your cupboards.
One thing I shall do which may confuse you is that I prefer to write my recipes in amount per
person, so as to make it easy to scale things up or down. I use the metric system mostly, though sometimes I use cups for ease (weighing things takes time!) and I will use a few standard abbreviations. The bottom of the blog will contain a cooking glossary if you get confused! And finally, I may sometimes use my nice camera to take photos of the food but most of the time my trusty phone and Instagram account will be doing the trick!
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Ingredients (per person)
- 100g chicken breast, diced
- 50g broccoli, in small florets
- 50g mushrooms, sliced and diced (I used chestnut, a shittake mushroom will give a stronger flavour but use your favourite)
- 50g sweetheart cabbage, roughly chopped (you could easily used regular cabbage, you will just need to cook it for a little longer, or pre-steam it)
- 2 spring onions, sliced thinly
- Chilli (here you can decide: I used a pinch of chilli powder, though some fresh/dried red chilli would work well)
- Quarter to a half a sachet of miso soup mix/ 1 tbsp miso paste
- 350ml of chicken stock (around half a stock cube)
- 75g rice noodles, pre-cooked
- The rind and juice from half of a lime
- A splash of oil for frying
Perhaps a formidable list of ingredients, but remember that many of the vegetables can be interchanged for ones that you love. Peppers, pre-cooked carrots, or cauliflower florets could go in for a more homey dish.
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Firstly, it is important to prep this dish, to make the cooking as easy and as fluid as possible - so chop your veg! Take the sharpest knife you have and don't worry too much about how it all looks, it's just going in a soup anyway.
Tip: Keep all pre-prepped food within reaching distance of the hob for stir-fries and the like, to avoid overcooking anything.
Next, take a deep frying pan, wok, or large saucepan. Heat up your oil on a medium-high heat and throw in your spring onions and chilli and continually stir until they begin to soften (~3 minutes, or just before they start to burn!)
Add the chicken and continue to stir fry until it begins to turn golden (~5 minutes).
Tip: Diced or thinly sliced chicken cooks much faster than large chunks, so will absorb less oil and be better for you!
Now add the stock and miso paste/soup mix and bring to a simmer. If the water is spitting out the pan, it's too hot, but if it is still, it is too cold. Throw in the veg and noodles and continue to cook until the chicken is just cooked all the way through (~5 minutes). You may need to adjust the heat of your hob to stop the broth over-boiling.
Turn down the heat, add the zest and juice and stir.
Tip: My boyfriend's tip is to cut the lime in half, then microwave it for 30 seconds - they juice much better this way!
Finally, before you serve, TASTE your food! Check that it doesn't need any seasonings, more lime etc and adjust the spiciness to how you like it! If you have someone who can't handle their spice, add a splash of whole milk to their bowl, to counter!
Serve in a big bowl, and slurp to your heart's content!
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(Source: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/find-recipes/recipes/salads-and-soups/chicken-and-mushroom-miso-soup)
