This Ginger Garlic Chicken Noodle Soup is one of the recipes from Keepers that I made a note of right away. I liked that you create the broth by poaching the chicken in water while the aromatics simmer, a technique I’ve tried before with this Pressure Cooker Pho Ga. I was also drawn to the garnish of black vinegar and chili crisp. We love chili crisp.

I had about 2.5 pounds of chicken so I scaled up the broth, but I don’t think that was really necessary as it doesn’t simmer long enough to reduce very much, and the flavor of the broth itself is pretty mild. Deb doesn’t call for this, but I skimmed the broth once it started boiling, mostly to remove the gunk. (I only removed the big, obvious fat deposits on the chicken. You could probably avoid skimming if you were a little more detail oriented in prepping your chicken.)

This filled my 6 quart dutch oven with just enough room for it to come up to a boil without spilling over, so if you don’t have a large dutch oven or stock pot you’ll want to scale down the recipe and possibly use more than one pot.

I definitely used more ginger than called for, and didn’t mince it quite as much as I should have, so next time I’ll be more mindful of that. (I don’t recommend the jarred ground ginger for this.) I’ll also make less chicken and add either broccoli florets or halved baby bok choy while the noodles cook.

Speaking of the noodles, it’s worth finding ramen noodles or something similar. I used a store brand of somen noodles, similar to this brand in type and packaging. You could also do rice noodles, but I think having something with a little heft here is nice. Thin spaghetti would probably work OK too.

Do make sure you follow her note regarding the noodles. You cook them in the broth, but if you expect to have leftovers don’t make all the noodles at once. Or make them in a separate pot, add to the bowl, and top with broth & chicken. That way you can store them separately. I made enough noodles for two servings and just did my best to fish them out of the pot when serving. There’s a couple of stray noodles in the leftovers, but not enough to worry about. The other thing to note is that the texture of the noodles will change as they soak up more liquid, and they won’t be as good.

A note about chili crisp

Every type of chili crisp is different, but it’s effectively aromatics in oil. It can be spicy or more salty and umami. The one we like is Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp, which in my opinion is not that spicy unless you use a lot of it. (And honestly, this is one of those condiments where too much is too much.) I like the textural contrast it brings to a dish, and it’s a great way to perk up leftovers.

Bon Appetit has a nice round up of chili crisps. Off of this list, we’ve also tried the Crunchy Garlic, which I liked but not as much as Lao Gan Ma, and the Fly By Jing, which I didn’t care for but I don’t remember why. Anyway, if you’re curious to try some, try to get either the S&B Crunchy Garlic with Chili Oil or the Lao Gan Ma. You might be able to find it in the Asian foods area of your grocery store, or another store nearby. (Grocery delivery sites might be able to help you scope out the stock ahead of time.) A small boogie market will definitely have at least one brand, and you can always order online.