Don't Reach For Instant Noodles. Do this instead

Hands up if you've ever felt so lazy to cook or out of ideas you'd reach for your golden stash of instant noodles...9 out of 10 times. The 10th time would probably just be settling for a snooze😬

If you love rich broth and noodles, you can easily make it yourself in one pot. It's so easy and delicious you will give established hawkers a run for their money.

This recipe is a twist on the poached Chicken Rice.

Pros:

The aromatics do not have to be chopped beautifully
Not complicated, just chop chop chop, dump dump dump and fry them all

Cons:

The broth will be rich

There will be a lot of aromatics to remove from the broth. You can chop them into bigger pieces so that they can be easily scooped out with a slotted spoon

Come on, let's start!

If you've managed to cut up some chicken fats, render them in the pan. Then add a little bit more oil and fry your ginger, garlic, onion, shallots and lemongrass.

If you feel like this is a bit extra, it's not. This will be flavour town👌🏼

I'm adding coriander seeds to give the broth more body.

Including a few pieces of dried chillies will make the broth more fragrant on top of adding a new dimension to the taste profile. It's not meant to be too spicy, don't worry.

Some recipes call for the chicken legs to be lowered into boiling water. But since my wok gains and loses heat fast, I need to readjust the technique a little.

The broth will reach boiling point in a matter of seconds. Adjust the flame to medium high heat for 10 minutes. Add some arak (Chinese Rice Wine) before closing the lid.

After 10 minutes, further adjust the heat to a very low setting and let the broth ripple gently beneath the chicken for another 20 minutes.

(If you're using a wok that retains heat very well, you can just turn off the fire completely.)

After this, fish the chicken legs out and let it rest before cutting them.

I tried using the cleaver to make a clean cut but I guess I butchered my chicken 😅

Thank goodness there was another leg for me to get the technique right. This powerful scissors will do the trick.

Blanch your sweet peas and pre-soaked glass noodles. Remove them in 10 seconds.

The chicken meat is succulent while the broth is aromatic.

Makes for easy slurping.

Recipe for 2 pax

Ingredients:

A

White Onion - 1

Shallots - 4
Whole Garlic - 1
Ginger - 1 (palm size)
Lemongrass - 2 stalks

B

Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Dried Chillies - 3-4 pieces

C

Spring Onions - 2-3 stalks

Chinese Rice Wine - 2 tbsp

Sweet Peas - 8-10 pieces
Glass Noodles - 1 fistful

Steps:

Marinate chicken with salt and pepper for 2-3 hours for best results

Render chicken fat and some oil in wok
Add Ingredients A and fry til onions are turning translucent then quickly add B
After 2-3 minutes, add C and lower your chicken legs into the wok and add water. Bring it to a boil, then adjust flame so that is medium heat. Keep this heat level for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, lower the heat until it just about ripples very, very gently under the chicken. Let the meat slowly infuse with the broth for 20 minutes
Remove the chicken and let it rest before chopping it
Meanwhile blanch the peas and pre-soaked glass noodles