Really any noodle will work here, so if you have a preference use that. Equally pasta would work, orzo or pastina would be lovely and of course rice. If you use rice, I would add it 10 mins or so before the end of the cooking time so it just cooks fully in the broth. You may need to have some more chicken stock on hand to top it up as you need although don’t go overboard on this as you don’t want to dilute too much of the gorgeous flavours we’ve built up in there. Chicken If you’ve got left over chicken from a roast, by all means use that, just add it at the end. If you have the chicken bones from said roast whack them in. We want as much chicken -y goodness as we can get and the flavour from the bones is incomparable. Chicken thigh is always preferable for me over breast in a recipe like this as it’s just a lot more succulent. You do want to use the very best chicken you can afford. This is going to mean different things for different people and I’m not going to tell you what to buy but good quality chicken makes such a difference and when you’re using in this way and trying to extract goodness from the bones, you want a chicken that has led a good life. Veg Go to town on the veg. Don’t have broccoli and carrots? No problem, you can use whatever you fancy and mix it up. Other things you can do with your pot of red curry paste Supermarkets all carry a good selection of curry pastes now - red is my preference for this but of course you could also use green. As I told you to buy a pot of curry paste and the last thing I want is for it to sit in your fridge looking accusingly at you every time you open the door. So here are some lovely ways you can use it up. It does also freeze very well, so can also freeze it and feel comforted knowing it’s in the freezer for when you next need it. I would scoop it into a ice cube tray, freeze until solid and then pop into a ziplock bag. Much better to freeze things in smaller amounts so you don’t have to defrost the whole lot. The trick with curry paste is that you want to “cook it out”, which basically means add a little oil to a pan and then fry the curry paste for just a few minutes so that it can release it’s gorgeous flavour fully. - Easy fishcakes - Blitz together some salmon in a food processor with a little curry paste, some chopped spring onions and a little sesame oil. Stir through some chopped green beans. Shape into patties and roll in sesame seeds. Fry until golden and cooked through. Serve with sweet chilli oil for dipping. So simple and so good. - Curried oven roasted potatoes are v v good. Once you’ve peeled chopped and par boiled your potatoes, stir some curry paste and then tip the potatoes into hot oil and roast as normal. This is also very good with little new potatoes which I wouldn’t bother peeling or parboiling before roasting in the hot oil with the curry paste. - An excellent curry in a hurry. Heat a little oil in a wok, add some chopped spring onions and 3 tablespoons of the curry paste. Cook for a few minutes before adding chopped chicken and some cubes of potato. Stir to coat before adding stock and coconut milk and a splash of fish sauce. Simmer for 10 mins - add some green veg and cook for a few minutes. Serve over rice with lots of chopped herbs. I don’t like coconut If you don’t like coconut by all means leave it out and top your soup up with chicken stock instead. The flavours in this particular version are built around the added coconut but will of course still work with chicken stock. You may want to leave out the curry paste and just go heavy on the garlic, ginger and add some finely chopped red chilli instead. Stock As always use whatever kind of stock is easiest for you. If you are using this soup as a cold comforter and are feeling really run down, it is worth trying to seek out good quality stock - the kind you get in the fridge section in pouches or pots. This stock is v v good. But of course this recipe will also work with a stock cube. So whatever works for you!