For 4 portions you need
1 chicken carcass (raw or cooked)
1 white onion or 6 spring onions, chopped
1 clove garlic roughly chopped
2 star anise
1 stick lemon grass or zest of ½ lemon
4-5 slices of root ginger
30ml good quality powdered chicken stock
1 litre water

A well flavoured broth is important
To prepare
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring the boil.
Allow to simmer for an hour with the lid on.
Pour the mixture through a course strainer or colander reserving the liquid.
Pick out the star anise and chicken bones and return the remaining ingredients to the pan or a blender jug, Add the strained stock and either blend or use a stick blender in the pot, blend to break up the remaining solids.
Now you are ready to add more interesting ingredients to your broth to make a delicious soup.

Nests of rice noodles cook within 4 minutes
Add any of the following:
- A nest of dry rice noodles
- 2-3 chopped spring onions
- 1-2 red or green chillies or a combination of these
- 125-200 ml frozen, fresh or tinned sweetcorn kernels or julienne carrot
- Approximately 20ml chopped coriander or fresh parsley
- 1-2 thinly sliced raw chicken breasts or 200ml cooked ham, cut into pieces
- sliced mushrooms; if you have dried shitake mushrooms they add wonderful flavour, just pre-soak them and add the soaking water for extra flavour
This is a soup with no rules, experiment!
Bring the mixture to the boil and stir with a fork to separate the noodles.
If raw chicken was added, simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with soy or fish sauce if necessary.
Garnish with a few fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.