Chinese Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

A great base soup that’s easy to build on. It was brilliant with a spoonful of miso stirred in, and we used soy sauce instead of salt for the seasoning. We also piled in loads of extra leeks and garlic.

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 spring onions, sliced
325g tin of sweetcorn, drained
1 reduced-salt chicken stock cube, made up to 1.2 litres
1 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce
2 roast chicken breast fillets, skin removed, meat shredded
2 eggs, beaten
15g fresh coriander, finely chopped
Sesame oil, to serve (optional)

Method

Warm the oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the garlic, ginger and most of the spring onions, and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft.
Put three-quarters of the sweetcorn in a bowl and blitz to a smooth paste with a stick blender. Set aside.
Pour the stock and soy sauce into the pan and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Whisk in the sweetcorn purée until smooth, then add the whole sweetcorn and the shredded chicken. Simmer for 4-5 minutes to heat through.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the beaten egg in a steady stream so it sets in little threads. Season with black pepper and stir in the coriander.
Serve topped with the spring onion you kept back, a drizzle of sesame oil and a little more soy sauce if you like.