This is my Instant Pot recipe for the eternal, rightfully eternal, chicken and noodle soup, in the form of ramen, but it’s also my IP chicken broth, just as worth making even if you don’t add noodles.
Turmeric, to my mind and palate, turns chicken broth ambrosial, and my Golden Broth utilizes both fresh turmeric root, and the ground product. I can’t stress strongly enough though that ground turmeric needs to be of good quality and bought from a shop with decent turnover of products in the spice section, so that it hasn’t been sitting around for who knows how long, getting sour and dusty tasting.
Despite the number of steps, it’s not fiddly in the least. Essentially, a whole chicken is cooked with aromatics, then removed from the broth, and once the cooked meat has been sliced off, the bones are returned to the broth for another round of cooking. The broth is then strained, the solids discarded, and at this point, you have a charming golden broth and turmeric-yellow chicken to do whatever you like with. What I like to do is add the strained broth back to the IP with ramen noodles and veg for one last minute, to transform it into ramen soup.
Chicken, one whole
Turmeric, one pinky finger sized piece of turmeric root, peeled and chopped
Turmeric, one tablespoon of ground turmeric
Ginger, one thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
Peppercorns, one tablespoon of whole black peppercorns
Coriander seeds, one tablespoon
Bay leaves, one fresh or two dried
Brown onions, two quartered but unpeeled
Garlic, one whole head, halved crosswise but unpeeled
Soy sauce, tamari style, two tablespoons
Fish sauce, one teaspoon
Kosher salt, one teaspoon
Place all the above ingredients in the bowl of an Instant Pot, barely cover it all with cold water, secure the lid and set to cook on High for 25 minutes.
Remove the yellow whole cooked chicken from the broth to a chopping board and allow it to cool slightly, before slicing all the meat from the bones, and putting the bones back into the broth. Set to cook on High for 20 minutes.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve or muslin bag and discard the solids. I use a gold coffee filter to sieve things I want to come out completely clear like this. Taste the broth for seasoning and if needed, add soy sauce or fish sauce to adjust.
Now you have a golden broth and tender meat from a whole chicken, with almost no work at all, refreshingly seasoned through with turmeric and ginger. Here’s how I turned about half of the broth and about a quarter of the meat into ramen soup for two:
Ramen noodles, dried
Cremini mushrooms, two sliced thin
Spring onions, one bunch, white and green parts sliced thin
Greens, two handfuls of soft greens which will wilt easily. I use a mix of baby spinach, cilantro leaves and Thai basil leaves here
Kosher salt, a pinch
Add 2 bowlfuls of broth back to the Instant Pot with the mushrooms, the white parts of the spring onions, salt and just enough ramen for two, and set to cook on High for 1 minute only. Trust me, this is plenty of time in the IP to cook dried ramen to al dente
Place some shredded chicken, the greens, and the green parts of the spring onions into two serving bowls
Once cooked, use tongs to divide the noodles between your prepped bowls of chicken and greens, and pour the broth over them, stirring just a little to mix it up and wilt the greens
I like to serve Golden Ramen with garlic-infused soy sauce, sesame oil and chili oil on the table
The remainder of the broth we’ll eat in the much the same way. That will leave a little less than half of the chicken left. Working with the turmeric-ginger infusion in the meat, I’ll make a chicken and chickpea salad of it with crunches of cos lettuce and cucumber, and a silky cashew dressing spiked with raw ginger.
This comes at the perfect time for me because I'm going through a soup phase!