Chinese Noodle Soup
This is the easiest and most classic version of Chinese noodle soup. The fried egg can magically release so much umami flavor into the noodle soup and make it looks appealing rich instead of transparent like water. Simply seasoned with soy sauce, lard, and fresh cilantro/scallion, this 10-minute soup can be a one-fit-all soup base for all of your noodle dishes.
Equipment
- 1 Nonstick saucepan (I use a small 1qt saucepan. It's fine to use a larger saucepan or a wok.)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp lard (Lard will make the soup base smell so good!! If you cannot find lard anywhere, you can substitute it with ½ tsp of sesame oil.)
- ½ tsp chicken powder (Optional. Or you can use ¼ tsp of msg. Again, this is optional!)
- 2 tbsp cilantro (Or scallion. Washed and finely sliced.)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 2 cup water (Or unsalted chicken/vegetable broth. If you use salted broth, you can reduce the amount of salt in this recipe and skip the chicken powder.)
Instructions
- Add light soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, salt, sugar, lard (or sesame oil), chicken powder (optional), and finely sliced cilantro (or scallion) to a large soup bowl. Set aside on your countertop.
- Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to a nonstick saucepan, preheat the oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes until hot. Crack an egg into the saucepan and fry for about 1 minute until the bottom side turns golden brown. Flip the egg over, cook for 1 more minutes until both sides are golden brown.
- Pour 2 cups of room temperature water (or unsalted chicken/vegetable broth) to the saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the protein from the egg to release flavors.
- Meanwhile boil some noodles and some vegetables in a separate pot. See my homemade noodles recipe here. Or you can use some store-bought noodles.
- Pour the egg soup into the large soup bowl. Stir with a spoon to make sure that the salt and lard are fully dissolved.
- Strain the cooked noodles and place them into the soup bowl, top with cooked vegetables and the egg. Serve hot immediately. (Optionally drizzle with chili oil if you like spicy noodle soup.)