Quick Noodle Soup

This is a quick and simple noodle soup. You may use corn on the cob, carrot, potatoes or cabbage to make the stock. Corn on the cob can be reserved for a snack and the potatoes can be used to make potatoes salad. As for the noodle, you can opt to have bean vermicelli (glass noodle), rice vermicelli (beehoon), rice noodle (kway teow), mee thye mak or even udon.

For a much more simplified version, use just ginger, vegetarian fishballs and ginger for the soup base. It tastes good too, as the preserved salted vegetable and light soy sauce will impart some flavour to the soup.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g hokkien mee, blanched

° 100g beanspouts, tailed and blanched

° 1 tablespoon preserved salted vegetable (Tong Chai)

° few chinese lettuce leaves (optional)

° finely shredded spring onion or coriander leaves, for garnish

° 1 fresh red chilli or chilli padi, sliced

Soup Base

° 1 litre water
° 4 vegetarian fishballs
° 1 thin slice ginger

° 1 carrot, peeled and cut into small chunk

° 1 potato, peeled and cut into small chunk size

° 1 corn on the cob, halved
° salt, to taste
° light soy sauce, to taste

° pepper, to taste

Method
1. To make the quick stock: place the carrot, corn, potato, ginger, vegetarian fishballs and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Removed the carrot, corn, potato and ginger. Alternatively for a even simplified soup, just place water, ginger and vegetarian fishballs in a pot and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt, light soy sauce and pepper.

2. Divide the noodles, beanspouts, preserved salted vegetable, lettuce leaves among 2 individual serving bowls. Garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and serve with a small plate of sliced red chilli with light soy sauce.