If you like Chinese take out food, you will know about this favorite - a white, flat broad noodle, mostly known as Chow Fun or Ho Fun. It is usually served as stir fry with either beef or chicken or shrimp, but do you know that you can also serve this as noodle soup too!

To make a chow fun soup, all you need is 4 cups of broth (chicken or beef or even vegetable) or just water, some leafy green vegetable like lettuce, some cooked meat if you like, then heat up the broth, add the vegetable and meat, cook for 2 minutes or when it comes to a boil, then add in the chow fun, stir them till the broth comes to a boil, then it's ready. Serve it with hot chili sauce or a dash of sesame oil.

I love to serve my chow fun soup with fried fish ball (see picture), they are small round fish ball that you can buy in a pack in most Asian grocery. You might find them in square or elong shaped in Japanese or Korean grocery stores. They are pre-cooked and fried, so once heat, they are ready to eat. My method is to heat up 4 cups of water in a pot, then add in the fish ball when it comes to a boil, let the fish ball cooked for 3-4 minutes or when you see the fish ball puffed up, then add in a tablespoon of soy sauce or a teaspoon of salt into the pot, next add in the vegetable, wait for the water to come to a boil before you add in the chow fun. Stir the chow fun gently to separate them, wait till the water comes to a boil, then they should be ready. Or when you see the chow fun has turned translucent. I like to serve this with hot chili sauce and a dash of sesame oil. The chili sauce enhances the flavor of this simple dish.

This is a famous Chiu Chow small eats. In the old days, all fish balls are handmade and if they are done right, they actually bounce like a ball. In Hong Kong and most Asian countries, you can find noodle shops that specialized in this dish. And you will find the dish served with their very own special chili sauce. Unfortunately, handmade fish balls are very labor intense, so these days, you can only find the machine made fish balls that no longer bounce.

To learn more about how to make simple broth or how to stir fry Chow Fun, go to www.chopstickbowl.com, I demonstrated these in their Chinese Take Out Cooking series.