I really love Asian-inspired foods, I find all the different textures and spices interesting and refreshing. If you’ve got a cold and you can’t breathe through your nose – isn’t this most of us right now? – this Asian broth is perfect because you can adjust the spice accordingly.

I like spice but I’m not a fan of burn-my-mouth hot, so you might want to add more chilli flakes to your broth.

I use vermicelli noodles in all broth recipes because they only need 3 minutes in boiling water and they’re ready to eat.

This recipe made enough for two of us and some left over – so maybe two very hungry people?

Ingredients

• An inch of ginger, cut into thin batons
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 50g rice vermicelli noodles (I get mine from Ocado)
• 3 leaves Chinese leaf cabbage, shredded
• 2 pak choi, halved – with tough end removed because no one wants that in their broth
• Handful of bean sprouts
• 2 small green chillis, deseeded (unless you’re crazy) and thinly sliced
• 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 litre of veg stock
• 2 portabello mushrooms
• Olive oil for cooking
• 1 egg

Method

1. I roasted my mushrooms for about 15 minutes on Gas Mark 5, sprayed with a small amount of olive oil. So put these on first.
2. In a heavy-based pan and in a drizzle of olive oil fry your ginger, garlic, chillis (save some for decoration) fry for a few minutes, don’t let anything burn!
3. Add your stock, gluten-free soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar, mix well and turn the heat up so it’s simmering slightly
4. Add your cabbage, bean sprouts and pak choi. Boil until softened – about 7-10 minutes
5. In a saucepan, boil some water to soft-boil your egg. Cook for about 7 minutes. Once cooked remove shell and halve
6. Add your rice noodles to the broth and stir until softened, around 3 minutes
7. Remove your mushrooms from the oven and serve on top of your broth along with your soft-boiled egg and reserved chillis

Enjoy!