Today I am posting one of my most favorite soups – Veg Manchow Soup. I don’t know how or when I start ordering this but this is my most loved soup. I have ordered this soup from the proper Chinese restaurants to small Indianised shops and I have loved it every single time. You can never go wrong with this soup – those crispy crunchy noodles, little bites of carrots, beans, mushrooms & tofu, the amazing flavor of spring onion, the spicy hit from the red chillies and a slight tanginess from the soy & tomatoes – this soup has it all! I have made this soup a number of times at home as well and it is something we all love! This soup takes recipe modifications really well – no red chillies, substitute green chillies. Don’t want to deep fry the noodles, add them in directly. No mushrooms, no tofu – that’s ok, replce them with some paneer! As I keep saying, this has to be one of the best soups ever – especially for these rainy days! Check out my other soup recipes here.

  1. In a pan, heat oil. Add finely chopped red chillies, ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute. Add finely chopped onion and fry until translucent. Add finely chopped carrots, beans, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped spring onion and mushrooms. Fry for 3-4 mins on low flame.
  2. Add soy sauce, salt and mix well. Fry for 30 secs and add water. Let the soup come to a boil on medium flame.
  3. Meanwhile, boil noodles in lots of salted water and strain them off. In a pan, heat oil to fry the noodles and drop the cooked noodles in the oil carefully. In 2-3 minutes, the noodles would be golden brown and crisp. Remove them onto a tissue paper. Set aside. (If you do not wish to deep fry, check the notes section below)
  4. Remove the pulp of the tomato and dice it into cubes. Similarly chop tofu/paneer into small cubes and add these two to the boiling soup. Let them cook for another two minutes. In a small bowl, mix corn flour and some water together. Pour this mixture into the boiling soup. Mix well. The soup would thicken over the next minute. Let the soup come to a single boil and switch off the flame.
  5. Serve hot with golden fried noodles and spring onion on top!

Any of the said vegetables can be added. Additionally, sweet corn kernels, cabbage, cauliflower can be added as well. The vegetables preferably should retain some crunch, so don’t overcook. Instead of fresh red chillies, green chillies can be added too. Adjust the quantity as per preference. For much spicier version, black/white pepper powder can be added too. Be cautious while adding salt, as soy sauce contains salt and the ripeness of the tomato can add to the salty flavor. If you don’t wish to deep fry the noodles, add ½ teaspoon of oil on the cooked noodles and set them on a flat plate in microwave high for 4-5mins. I did that to my soup and there was no difference in taste at all. Alternatively, boiled noodles can be used directly to make noodle soup! The corn flour adds to the thickness of the soup. Adjust the quantity as per the required consistency. This soup on cooling can turn a bit thicker, add some water and heat it up again.