This Five Spice Turkey Noodle Soup is not your average turkey noodle soup. 

I started this Five Spice Turkey Noodle Soup on the day after Thanksgiving. I simmered the Thanksgiving turkey carcass to develop an amazing stock, and then used the stock the next day to make this soup.

While you can use store bought stock (and I do use it often), there is something so satisfying about making your own.

The key ingredients to this soup, along with the fresh stock, are Chinese five spice powder, lots of ginger, lime juice, basil, and fish sauce. The soup is acidic, salty from the fish sauce, and has an amazingly spicy flavor from the ginger. It's really difficult to describe, but well worth trying. In fact, when you try it, can you let me know how to describe it? The only word I can come up with is delicious, which I know is totally inadequate.

While I made this soup with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, you could also make it with chicken. In fact, chicken stock and a rotisserie chicken would work beautifully.

Five Spice Turkey Noodle Soup

Ingredients

• 6 cups turkey or chicken stock, either homemade or low sodium (see below for instructions for making homemade)
• 3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup after slicing)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• 3 tablespoons freshly sqeezed lime juice, plus lime slices for garnish
• 1/4 cup fish sauce (I used the Red Boat brand)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 12 ounces (about 2 cups) diced cooked turkey or chicken
• 6 ounces dried egg noodles
• 3 tablespoons finely sliced basil
• 2 to 3 green onions, sliced thinly
• 1 red or green jalapeno, thinly sliced
• Cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Combine the stock, shallots, ginger, and five spice powder in a large saucepan, and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar.
3. While the stock is simmering, prepare the noodles according to package directions, and drain.
4. Add the lime, fish sauce, and sugar mixture to the broth, and stir. Add the turkey (or chicken), the noodles, and basil, and heat through.
5. Divide the soup among four bowls, and garnish with green onions, jalapeno, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges and more jalapeno on the side.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe inspired by Williams Sonoma Food Made Fast Asian

Turkey Stock

Ingredients

• 1 turkey carcass, plus wings and neck (from a cooked turkey)
• handful of thyme
• handful of flat leaf parsley
• 4 to 5 celery stalks, chopped, including leaves
• 4 bay leaves
• 10 to 20 peppercorns
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Place the carcass, wings, and neck into an 8 quart Dutch oven or stock pot. If necessary, break up the carcass to fit it into the pan.
2. Fill the pan with enough water to cover the carcass. Add the thyme, parsley, celery, bay leaves peppercorns, and onions.
3. Bring the pan to a boil, and immediately reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for four hours, skimming off any foam that may develop.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Strain the mixture through a fine strainer and refrigerate overnight.
6. The next day, skim off the fat off of the top of the stock. Your stock is ready to use.