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One of the best things for lifting deflated spirits is a deep bowl of steaming, restorative soup – perfect for warming the places your old woolly jumper can’t reach. I love the romance and cosiness of creamy European soups drunk straight out of a mug around a fire in November, but in the icy tundra that is January I need something with more heat and intensity, something sustaining, spicy, gutsy and textured, so that I need a fork or chopsticks to eat it, rather than just a spoon. These punchy soups are simply rapture in a bowl, and make for extremely satisfying slurping.
Khao swe (pictured top)
Khao swe is a Burmese noodle soup with hot coconut broth, springy noodles and a madness of garnishes, from boiled eggs to peanuts or crisp shallots. Feel free to swap out the poultry for vegetables such as pumpkin or tofu, or seafood such as prawns.
Prep 15 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4
2 tbsp neutral oil, such as groundnut or avocado
1 stick cinnamon
1 star anise
2 red onions, peeled and sliced into very fine half-moons
3 fat garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed
2½cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 long red chilli, finely chopped
2 lemongrass sticks, white parts only, finely chopped
6 makrut lime leaves, stalks removed, leaves finely chopped
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp gram flour
400ml chicken stock
400ml coconut milk
8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of 1 juicy lime
1 tbsp palm sugar, or light brown sugar
250g flat rice noodles, or egg noodles, cooked according to packet instructions
To garnish (optional)
4 tbsp crisp shallots
40g chopped roasted peanuts
1 handful freshly chopped coriander
4 chopped spring onions
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
4 lime wedges,
Heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan or casserole. Add the cinnamon stick, star anise and onions, and saute over a medium-low heat until the onions are deep golden and caramelised. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass and lime leaves, and fry for a minute or two more, until fragrant.
Sprinkle in the chilli powder, turmeric and gram flour, and fry for a minute, until toasty and aromatic. Stir in the stock and coconut milk, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer over a low heat until it’s cooked through and tender.
Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar, taste and add more lime, sugar or fish sauce if needed. Divide the noodles between four bowls, ladle the khao swe over the top and serve with your chosen garnishes.
Sweet-and-sour peanut dal with pappardelle
Gujarati dal dhokla is one of my ultimate comfort foods, and this dish takes inspiration from that, except the dhokla (or pasta) part, which is normally made from scratch but which I’ve swapped here for pappardelle.
Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4
200g toor dal (AKA split pigeon peas), washed very well
1 long red chilli, cut into thick rings (pith and seeds discarded if you prefer less heat)
1 tsp turmeric
40g raw peanuts
For the tempering
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 heaped tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
15–20 fresh curry leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick, broken up
2 cloves
1 tbsp grated ginger
3 garlic cloves, peeled and blitzed
2 green chillies, finely blitzed (pith and seeds discarded if you prefer less heat)
1 heaped tsp tomato puree
2 ripe tomatoes, pureed
1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tbsp grated jaggery, or soft brown sugar
Sea salt
Juice of 1 lime
To garnish
250g fresh pappardelle, cooked according to packet instructions
1 handful finely chopped coriander
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
Put the toor dal, chilli, turmeric, peanuts and a litre and a half of water in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer over a low heat for 40-45 minutes, until soft and mushy.
In a second pan, heat the coconut oil, then add the mustard seeds and, as soon as they pop, stir in the asafoetida and curry leaves. Once the leaves crackle, add the cumin, cinnamon and cloves, fry briefly until fragrant, then stir in the ginger, garlic and chillies, and fry until cooked and fragrant.
Add the tomato puree, pureed fresh tomatoes, tamarind and sugar, let the pan come to a bubble, then simmer for five minutes. Pour the tomato mix into the cooked lentils, add some water to make it soupy, then season with salt and cook for 10 minutes more. Finish with lime juice.
Divide the cooked pappardelle between four bowls, then ladle the dal on top, sprinkle over the coriander and red onions, and serve.
Cheat’s dumpling soup
This has all the big flavour of a dumpling soup, minus all the hard work and effort.
Prep 10 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4
For the broth
1 litre chicken ramen broth (such as the one by Itsu)
50ml light soy sauce
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks
3 spring onions, trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths
For the dumpling filling
200g shiitake
3 tbsp roughly chopped coriander
2 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp sesame oil
300g minced pork
Salt and black pepper
24 dumpling wrappers,cut in half diagonally
Chilli oil, to serve
Put all the ingredients for the broth in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and leave to cook gently.
Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Combine the shiitake, coriander, spring onions, ginger and sesame oil in a small food processor, then process until finely chopped. Add the pork, process again to combine, then season to taste. Roll the mix into walnut-sized balls (you should end up with about 25 in total), then gently drop them into the soup and simmer for about four minutes, until cooked through. Add the halved dumpling wrappers to the pot, cook for a further 30 seconds, or until al dente, then ladle into bowls and serve with your favourite chilli oil.
