Chicken Noodle Soup with Pickled Carrot Salad

If you need a healthy, cleansing recipe after the rich indulgence of the festive period, then look no further than my recipe for chicken noodle soup. One of the most valuable things I learnt from cookery school and working in a restaurant kitchen is the importance of not wasting anything. After I cooked a roast chicken recently I decided to use the leftover cooked chicken, carcass and bones to make this fresh noodle soup which still has bags of flavour from this method of making the stock from the carcass. This is a budget friendly, tasty meal which is also great for clearing out your fridge.

Serves 3
1. First make the stock. Put a leftover chicken carcass and bones in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn to a very low simmer and add some roughly chopped onion, carrots, celery, parsley stalks, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns. Leave to simmer for a few hours if you can to ensure the stock gets a really good depth of flavour.
2. For the pickled carrot salad mix the julienne carrots, 2 tbsps white wine vinegar, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp pink peppercorns and 1 tsp black peppercorns in a bowl and leave until ready to serve, stirring occasionally.
3. Drain the stock and put in a saucepan. Reduce a little to concentrate the flavour and add a cinnamon stick, a couple of star anise, four cloves, some sliced ginger, 3 tbsps light soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar and 1 tsp fish sauce. Leave to infuse for at least 15 mins or longer if you can.
4. Shred the leftover cooked chicken and add to the stock with some dried noodles. This is where you can add whatever veggies you have in the fridge. I added some button mushrooms, tenderstem broccoli and frozen peas.
5. Spoon the soup into bowls and top with thai basil leaves, mint, coriander and sliced red chilli for a pop of heat. Serve with lime wedges, bean sprouts and the pickled carrots.