Asian chicken noodle bowl

I have been hibernating lately thanks to these recent cold snaps. Whether you blame the polar vortex, the bombogensesis, or just plain winter, it's been freakishly cold. That's all I know. It was -18°F when I woke up. Just seeing that number on the thermometer makes me cold, so I bundled up for the trek to the office -- a cardigan and a blazer, long johns under my jeans and, of course, wool socks. Top it off with my normal winter uniform of hat, scarf, puffy jacket and mittens and I miraculously avoided frostbite on the walk to my car.

Anyways, the only cure for my winter blues is brothy chicken noodles. Spicy, Asian-infused chicken noodle bowls. I was inspired by smitten kitchen's recipe but I skipped a lot of the extra steps and specialty ingredients because I do not leave the house when it's this cold. I will do a post soon on how to make chicken broth from scratch, but you can check out this link if you don't know how to do it. Otherwise, the store-bought kind would be okaaaaaaaaay I guess. 

Notes:

-I didn't have a lot of chicken, but you can definitely use more than 1 cup if you'd like.

-This is more of a noodle dish with a little bit of broth. You can easily add more broth or reduce the noodles to make a true soup.

-I used black bean garlic sauce to get an Asian flavor, but you could use any Asian flavorings you like. You can experiment with your favorite stir fry sauce or use a combination of fish sauce, soy sauce, sriracha sauce, fresh lime juice, hoisin sauce, etc. to achieve your ideal flavor. 

SIMPLE ASIAN CHICKEN NOODLE BOWL

Serves: 4

Preparation: 30 minutes

6 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. fresh ginger, sliced

1/3 c. black bean garlic sauce

A generous handful of linguine noodles

1 c. chicken, cooked and chopped

Olive oil

4 eggs

2 c. bean sprouts 

Cilantro, Asian chili-garlic sauce and fresh jalapenos, for garnish

1. Mix the broth, ginger and black bean garlic sauce together and bring to a boil.

2. Add the noodles and cook according to package instructions, subtracting 2-3 minutes from the recommended time.

3. Remove soup from heat and stir in the chicken. Cover and set aside.

4. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add eggs, season with salt and pepper and cook to medium doneness.

5. Divide the bean sprouts into four bowls and pour the soup over them. Plop a fried egg on top and add cilantro, chili-garlic sauce and jalapenos to taste.