I had a hankering for my favourite lunch take-away, noodle soup, and tried to replicate the dish at home to fulfill my craving. It turned out pretty close, but no cigar - will have to keep experimenting.

Here's what went right: The noodles and "toppings" were the right choice and well cooked. I used fresh packaged Chinese egg noodles, Finely chopped romaine lettuce (the lighter coloured, crunchier bottom of the head), shredded carrots, chopped green onions and white bean sprouts.

...and what needs work: The flavour of the broth eluded me, which granted is the toughest part of this recipe. I was going off of memory and my limited knowledge of Chinese cooking which I know has a mirepoix* of Green onions, ginger and garlic. As I was already using green onions as a garnish, I used white onions in the stock along with some ginger and garlic and some celery bits that I thought might add some flavour. I added all of the following to a medium sized stock pot with some sesame oil and cooked those for a couple minutes to release the flavours. Then I added some chicken stock, a bit of sake and soy sauce to taste.

It was good, but just not right - I may use less ginger next time, no celery and maybe use veg stock over chicken stock next time. Another good touch, might be to use some shrimp shells in the stock as well to give it that "umami" taste I just couldn't achieve the first time round.

Notes on the gallery below:

The finished dish, served along side some pan fried dumplings
My full list of ingredients - including elements for the pan fried dumplings - which were store bought (not that fancy, yet)
The uncooked mirepoix*; celery ends, garlic, ginger and white onion
The stock, in progress (after adding the sake, chicken stock and soy sauce)
My large cooking pot - the fresh noodles take 2 minutes to cook, so I threw them in first, then removed and added to serving bowls, then blanched** my carrots, lettuce and white bean sprouts.
The serving bowls before adding the stock - I tried to replicate my favourite soup place by adding the noodles in the bottom, the bean sprouts in one third section, the carrots and lettuce in another and the fresh chopped green onions in the final section. Then I ladled the stock over top.

Ingredients

*mirepoix: a common blend of aromatics often added to stews or soups in the same way salt and pepper are added to give a familiar blend of palatable tastes.

**blanched: Cook briefly in boiling water, then drain immediately.