It’s cold, it’s windy, it’s dark... but this soup gives me something to look forward to – COMFORT & WARMTH!!

Usually most of these recipes provisions are on hand, except maybe the fresh noodles and bean shoots; these can be found at your friendly Asian grocer (along with all the other ingredients).

I’m going to cheat a little here, because I don’t have hours to make a beautiful broth. If you have some frozen chicken stock in the freezer then it’s a bonus, but a good low-salt gluten free stock will do the trick, or water with stock powder. Personally I prefer to use Massel because it's gluten free.

Banh Lot noodles are great, they're slippery and have a nice feel when slurped up. They look like large plump bean shoots, and are a great short rice flour noodle. You might recognise the noodles used in colourful Vietnamese desserts. Look for fresh noodles that are made in Australia. Feel free to use whatever noodle you wish, coeliac can use any gf noodle, bean, or rice noodle and for non-coeliac use a soba or ramen noodle.

I'm a carnivore, I love meat - if you do too, you can replace the mushroom tofu with free range pork mince, in which case make sure you stir fry until brown and crispy! I didn’t have any mince on hand but I did have mushrooms and tofu, so I opted for this alternative 'mince' instead; healthy and delicious. The addition of porcini mushrooms to the 'mince' gives the dish a meaty punch.

On a recent trip to Tasmania, I saw that Slow Eggs seem to be all the rage in Hobart; they're on all the menus of your fancy breakfast establishments around town, and so I really wanted to make a cheats version of that too! I don’t have an hour to spare to cook 60° eggs, so I’ve opted for a 3-4 minute version, yes, cheating, I know. But 'eggs in plastic' doesn’t sound as appealing.

Serve this soup with your favourites, and replace replace replace! Don’t be afraid to stray from the recipe; open your fridge, use what’s on hand and experiment! And please let me know how you've experimented. I’ve chosen to serve this dish with some watercress and coriander because - you guessed it – it was in my fridge!

Every single drop of soup from your bowl will be slurped and drunk and will leave you feeling satisfied.

NOODLE SOUP w MUSHROOM-TOFU 'MINCE' + SLOW EGG

Gluten Free I Vegetarian & Vegan Adaptable I Serves 2

PROVISIONS

4 cups gf chicken stock
1 carrot
1 inch piece of ginger
1 clove garlic
3 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 free range eggs
2 tbsp dashi miso
2 handfuls fresh bahn lot noodles

MUSHROOM-TOFU ‘MINCE’

1 tbsp sesame oil
4 fresh shitake mushroom, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp chilli flakes
250g firm tofu, chopped
10g dried porcini
2 tbsp black sesame seeds
2 tbsp tamari soy sauce

GARNISH OPTIONS

Watercress
Coriander
Bean shoots
Chilli oil

METHOD

Soak porcini in a bowl with about 1 cup of boiling water.
In a medium pot, add your stock and bring to simmer. While you’re waiting, chop carrot into large chunks, slice your ginger, and crush your garlic using the blade of your knife.
Add your carrot, ginger, garlic, rice wine and fish sauce. Bring to the boil, then simmer.
When your porcini is cool enough to touch, squeeze out the liquid with your hand. Chop your porcini; set aside. Pour the remaining porcini water into your stock.
While your stock is simmering, heat a wok or frypan on a medium heat. Add sesame oil, then add mushroom, garlic, chilli, tofu, chopped porcini and stir fry until dry. Add black sesame and tamari, stir to coat mix, turn off heat and set aside.
To make the slow eggs, place cling film over a cup, and crack 1 egg into it. Gather up the sides and secure with an elastic band. Repeat with the second egg. Drop the eggs into your simmering stock for 3-4 minutes and cook until egg white is firm. Remove and cool slightly.
To assemble, take your stock off the heat. Stir through your dashi miso. Add your noodles into the bottom of your serving bowl. Pour over stock, spoon on your ‘mince’, remove egg from cling wrap and pop on top. Garnish with bean shoots, watercress, coriander and chilli oil. Slurp.