Chili-Lime Broth with Udon and Bok Choy

K surprised me again by making this Thai-style chili-lime broth with udon and bok choy tonight. Given that it reached a 100 degrees today, I didn’t expect him to cook at all. But, this is the kind of dish we crave on a sweltering day. It’s similar to Vietnamese pho. Though, the chilies, cilantro, and lime hint at Thai. We realize that udon isn’t the first choice for this type of broth, but we had it on hand and prefer thick noodles. As for the bok choy, it’s our go-to vegetable for noodle soups. You’ll notice that we tend to mix Japanese, Korean, and Chinese ingredients whenever we make anything Asian.

The chili-lime broth recipe was originally published in Sunset magazine. Modified recipe below has garlic and bok choy instead of the kaffir lime leaves.

 

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Chili-Lime Broth
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

6 cups chicken broth
2 fresh red or green jalapeño chilies (2 oz. total), stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 cloves of garlic
5 slices fresh ginger (each about the size of a quarter)
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
Asian fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
bok choy, handful

1) In a 2- to 3-quart pan, combine broth, chilies, chopped cilantro, lime leaves, garlic, and ginger.
2) Bring to a boil over high heat.
3) Add bok choy and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
4) Pour broth through a fine strainer into a bowl.
5) Add lime juice, onions, cilantro leaves, and fish sauce to taste.
6) Ladle into soup bowls.