Macaroni Soup Recipe

So earlier this year when I was in Hong Kong, I spent mornings slurping up a classic breakfast dish -- the macaroni soup.

My Mom used to make this for us for lunch, but in Hong Kong it's popular among westernized cafes for breakfast. It's typically made simply with macaroni pasta in chicken broth with strips of cooked ham. Recently I decided to make a fancier version of the macaroni soup by doctoring up my chicken broth ala Sandra Lee, and then adding peas like what my Mom used to do.

I noticed my challenge was finding the right size of macaroni. Seems like not many stores carry traditional macaroni, and instead sell elbow pasta that seems a bit smaller than the macaroni I remember. I ended up buying a Mac n' Cheese box, dumping the cheese, and just using the macaroni. And the result is the recipe below. Enjoy!

Copyright 2011 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
2 cups macaroni pasta
1.5 cup chopped cooked ham
2 cup frozen peas
1 can chicken broth
4 cups water
1 fennel, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrot sticks, roughly chopped
1 tomato, halved
5 to 7 Szechuan peppercorns
2 T Canola oil
Salt for seasoning

Start by making the broth. In a pot, warm the oil over medium high heat and add the onion and fennel, cooking for about two minutes to soften. Then add broth, water, carrot, tomato, and peppercorns and bring to boil. Then reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 1 hour.

When done, pour broth through a strainer or fine mesh sieve. Reserve broth for when you're ready to eat.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni per box instructions. Drain and set aside when done.

When making your macaroni soup, warm up enough broth you need for how many bowls you'll be serving up. Add enough ham and peas and let the broth warm them up, about one to two minutes. Season with salt for more flavor. Then add cooked macaroni, loosening it up in the broth, and laddle into soup bowls to serve.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.