Umami-Rich Chicken Shirataki Noodle Soup Recipe
by Nicola Lando
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20 minutes prep time
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20 minutes cook time
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Intermediate
Shirataki noodles or 'miracle noodles' as they are often known, are famous in the UK for having close to no calories. Yet in Japan they are a common ingredient in donabe dishes, and in China in hot pots - prized for their texture. This shirataki noodle recipe is inspired by the flavours of Chinese chicken noodle soup - umami undertones from the shiitake mushrooms, complex, smoky, slightly acidic notes from the Chinkiang rice vinegar and a spicy zing from the chilli and ginger.
Meanwhile bamboo shoots and bok choi add texture and help to make the meal more substantial whilst still very low in calories - only 190 calories per serving.
Ingredients Serves: 2
- 700ml chicken stock (we recommend Essential Cuisine)
- 30g dried shiitake mushrooms
- 3cm piece fresh root ginger, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 red chilli, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 sliced to garnish
- 100g chicken breast, sliced
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp Chinkiang rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 360g shirataki noodles (2 packets) drained and rinsed
- 100g bamboo shoots
- 1 bulb bok choi or 100g spinach (1 bulb)
Method
- In a medium-sized bowl add the stock powder to 700ml hot water.
- Add the shiitake mushrooms and leave them to rehydrate for 10 minutes whilst you chop the ginger, garlic, red chilli and slice the chicken.
- Strain the mushrooms, reserving the stock for later, and chop into quarters. Save one whole shiitake mushroom per person for decoration.
- Heat the sunflower oil in a wok on a medium heat. Fry the ginger, garlic and 1/2 red chilli for a couple of minutes.
- Add the chicken and stir fry until the chicken is just cooked. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add the reserved stock, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, shirataki noodles and bamboo shoots. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the bok choi leaves and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
- Return the chicken to the pan and heat through for 2 minutes.
- Divide between two bowls and serve garnished with slices of red chilli.
Regular:
About the author
Nicola Lando is the co-founder and CEO of Sous Chef, where she has spent more than a decade sourcing, tasting and selecting specialist ingredients, cookware and tableware from producers around the world.
She trained at Leiths and later completed a stage at a Michelin-starred London restaurant, experiences that helped shape Sous Chef’s original mission: to give home cooks access to the same exceptional ingredients used by professional chefs.
Today, Nicola leads much of Sous Chef’s product sourcing and ingredient selection, working directly with producers and travelling internationally to food fairs, farms, mills and manufacturers. She tastes thousands of products each year and has built deep expertise across storecupboard ingredients, olive oil, condiments, spices, preserved foods and specialist cooking ingredients.
She holds an olive oil sommelier certification from ESAO in Spain, Imperial Executive Education’s Certificate in Nutrition for Health: Evidence-Based Tools and Strategies certificate; as well as studying Food Safety and Control at University of Greenwich.
Nicola also writes recipes and ingredient guides for Sous Chef, combining practical cooking experience with first-hand knowledge from producers, suppliers and specialist food makers. Her work focuses on helping cooks understand how to choose better ingredients, use them well, and get more flavour from their cooking.
