Vietnamese soup with glass noodles

Ingredients:

For the soup

• 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 50g dried porcini mushrooms
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 tsp pink salt
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 2 litres of water

To serve

• 250g glass noodles
• A handful of coriander, roughly chopped
• A small handful of mint,
• roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 3 spring onions, julienned
• 1 romano pepper, julienned
• 2 heads of pak choi, separated into
• individual leaves and sliced lengthways
• 200g organic tofu, cubed, rolled in rice
• flour and pan fried (optional)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Place the celery, onion, carrots, dried mushrooms, thyme, rosemary, salt and water in a large pan and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and then simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Remove the soup pan from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the chunks of vegetable and herbs. You should be left with a translucent, golden brown broth. Stir the lime juice and chilli through the broth, then gently simmer to keep warm.
3. Fill a small pan with enough water to cover the glass noodles, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Boil the noodles for 8-10 minutes until soft, then remove from the heat and dunk in cold water. Drain the now cold noodles and drizzle with the olive oil to prevent them from sticking together.
4. Arrange the coriander, mint, carrot, spring onions, pak choi and tofu (if you choose to use it) in small bowls or on a serving plate.
   
   To assemble the soup, add some noodles to each bowl with a ladleful of the broth, the sliced vegetables, herbs and a wedge of lime. Stir well and enjoy.