Shrimp Noodle Soup (Spicy Shrimp Noodle Bowl, Cooking Light Magazine)

Brand new recipe here. Tried it for the first time tonight. And we were all in heaven! I can't believe how easy and quick it was. Even our oldest, who's only 8, had a second and third bowl of it. This is definitely going to be a new family favorite. It is considered spicy, but only as much as you use of the red chili flakes or chili sauce. Yes, it's another steal from Cooking Light magazine. They never disappoint. While it's not exactly the most inexpensive dish, (with the shrimp coming to about 8 bucks a pound, on sale) we all concurred that there was more than enough shrimp, and it could easily be made with ½ pound shrimp instead and still be plenty to go around. Of course, the gluten-free part of me loved that it wasn't a recipe specifically made to be GF, but was since it's made with traditional Asian rice noodles.

What you need: Don't be alarmed with all my little "notes" in italics. It really is fast and easy; I'm just wordy.


1 pound tail-on peeled and deveined medium shrimp (but like I said, could easily get away with half that.) It didn't specify raw or cooked. I went with the cooked.
1½ C. water
1 C. lower-sodium chicken broth, read labels for gluten-free
1 (8 oz.) bottle of clam juice ("CLAM JUICE??" you say? I admit, I'd never heard of, used, let alone PURCHASED such a thing. But apparently it is a must in these sort of dishes, and I am a believer now. This soup is amazing. I found the jar of this stuff in the aisle with the canned tuna. Up on a top shelf. It was cheap. $1.85)
2 (¼-inch-thick) slices of peeled ginger (ginger root is found in the produce aisle near the garlic, usually, I think.)
1 tsp. olive oil
¾ C. red bell pepper, thinly sliced 
¼ C. yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced (I used a press)
1/2 C. sugar snap peas (I couldn't find any bags of frozen sugar snap peas only; they seemed to only carry them in a "stir-fry" mix of them with carrots, onion, and mushrooms. I thought that sounded just wonderful for this soup, so I used that. It didn't disappoint to use those added veggies. YUM! So it was about a cup of total veggies.)
2 tsp. chili garlic sauce or ½ tsp. crushed red pepper (Warning! If you or those you are serving might be sensitive to heat/spice, I would HIGHLY recommend using half this amount. I used 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, and I admit, the broth still had quite a kick. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much with any more heat.)
¼ tsp. salt
3 ounces uncooked rice sticks (aka, Asian rice noodles, again, easy to find and cheap, found on the bottom shelf in the Asian food aisle.)
2 T. fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges, not pictured with ingredients, but we did use.


How you make it:


Remove shrimp tails; set shrimp aside. Combine shrimp tails, water, broth, clam juice, and ginger in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Strain broth mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. 


Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, yellow onion, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add reserved broth; bring to a simmer. Add shrimp, peas, chili garlic sauce (or crushed red pepper), salt, and noodles; cook 5 minutes or until noodles are done. 


Top each serving with cilantro and serve with lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.


Served with a green salad. The recipe noted a cucumber/radish salad recipe to go with this, which sounded awesome. I couldn't find a link, but I'll put it below. I like radishes, but seem to never have them or think to buy them. Guess that should go in our new garden this year...


Cucumber Salad: 
Combine 4 tsp. rice vinegar, 2 tsp. dark sesame oil, ¼ tsp. black pepper, and 1/8 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Add 2 C. thinly sliced cucumber, ½ C. thinly sliced radishes, and 3 T. thinly sliced green onions; toss well to combine. 4 servings.