>Chinese Noodle Soup

Chinese Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

4 dried Chinese Mushrooms

1/2 cup of cooked chicken

1/2 cup of chopped roast pork (you can make your own or buy some in your local deli section)

1/2 cup of chopped smithfield ham or prochuctto (however the hell it’s spelled)

1/4 cup of thinly sliced bamboo shoots

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro

1/2 cup of fresh torn spinach (optional)

1/2 pound of Chinese egg noodles.

1 tsp of salt

4 cups of chicken stock

PREPARE AHEAD: In a small bowl, pour hot water over the dried mushrooms and let them sit for 30 minutes. Discard the water and rinse them until clean. Chop the mushrooms and discard the dry stems.

Have your mushrooms, stock, noodles, bamboo shoots, cilantro, salt, chicken spinach and pork all within easy reach.

To cook: In a 3 or 4 quart hot pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the noodles (make sure when you break the noodles that they are match stick sized). Cook for 2 minutes then pour into a colander. Rinse the noodles under cold water to stop the cooking process. In the same pot, bring the stock to a boil over high heat. Add the mushrooms, chicken, cilantro, spinach, bamboo shoots, noodles and salt. Reduce the heat to low Simmer uncovered for about 2 minutes. To serve: Lift up noodles and vegetables with a large spoon with holes in it, place in a soup bowl. Then sprinkle the ham and roast pork over the noodles. Pour stock over the noodles. Serve at once. Feeds 4 to 6. 1 if you’re a fat ass.