Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup

Saint Esther Hamm, piano teacher, showed up on my doorstep near the end of a very traumatic flu season in my home. Mom and six little kids had been very wiped-out weak and sick for days. (Dad was having his own version of the illness on his long flight to India where he later picked up food poisoning and almost died on the flight home.) She left a very large tupperware bin with warm chicken noodle soup that was the best we ever had. I gave up my jewish mama recipe for life after having this. And as Grace says, this recipe is the only reason to get sick. By popular demand, here is how we make it:

Boil and simmer chicken in a panful salted water along with about an inch of fresh ginger cut into slices or chunks.

When meat is cooked, remove chicken and bring broth to a boil. Add angel hair or thin spaghetti pasta and cook until done. Add cut up chicken meat.

This is supposed to be soup, but often we find the noodles eventually absorb the broth. Well, it's good as hot noodles, too. But you can add more water if you want the soup. I've also found that pepper or any other herb added diminishes what makes this soup so good. Chopped green onions as garnish excepted.