Instant Pot Hainan Chicken Noodle Soup
I came up with my Asian Chicken Noodle Soup recipe a couple of years ago, and I was blown away by how delicious and easy it is! My 30 Minutes Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is inspired by the Hainanese Chicken and Rice recipe with its delicious sauce and tender chicken. This recipe has been my ONLY go-to chicken soup recipe every winter, and I am now passing my secret comfort food over to you. You will never believe how easy it is to make this Asian Chicken Noodle Soup in an instant pot! The chicken stays moist and tender while the soup is packed with flavor. The best part of my Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is the Ginger-Scallion Oil that will get your craving for seconds!
Hainanese Chicken Rice-Inspired Chicken Noodles
Believe it or not, my Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is actually from a kitchen mistake made a couple of years ago.
I made Hainanese Chicken and Rice for dinner one day and forgot to make the rice. At first, I was panicking because what is Hainan Chicken without the rice? I was too hungry to make rice, so I decided to cook up some noodles. WOW, I was shocked that Hainan Chicken Noodles aren’t served in restaurants! After a few tweaks and a couple of trial and error, I came up with my fail-proof Instant Pot Asian Chicken Noodle Soup, also known as my Hainan Chicken Noodle Soup, that will blow your mind!
Asian Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- 2.5 lb Chicken Asian Supermarket *, Organic Free-Range
- 4 Slices Ginger
- 6 stalks Green Onion
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 6-8 cups Water not passing the chicken breast *
- 6 servings Noodles Use Your Favorite, I like rice noodles
Scallion Ginger Oil
- 3 tbsp Ginger grated
- 4 cloves Garlic grated
- ¼ cup Sesame Oil
Whole Chicken
The essential ingredient for a delicious Asian Chicken Noodle soup is Chicken.
I recommend going to your local Chinese Supermarket to get “Yellow Organic Chicken,” also known as “Free-Range “Walking” Chicken.” If you don’t live near an Asian Supermarket, you can get organic free-range chicken instead. Free Range Chickens are often much smaller, less fat, more tender, and the skin is much more flavourful.
While Free-range chicken is a little pricer than regular chicken, it is worth it once you give it a try! Free-Range Chicken often comes with the head and feet still on, so once you bring it home, cut off the head, feet, and butt and scrub the chicken inside and out with salt to exfoliate the skin. After you exfoliate the chicken, pat dries the chicken with paper towels. These extra steps will ensure the broth is extra clear and meat extra tender.
Instant Pot Whole Chicken Pro Tips
Make sure to always place the chicken with its breast facing up and never having the water covering the breast.
The most common mistake when making a whole chicken is dry chicken breast. Not soaking the chicken in the soup allows the breast to be “steamed,” which will prevent it from overcooking and becoming stringy. This one trick will guarantee tender, moist chicken every single time.
Fragrant Scallion Ginger Oil
Of course, it won’t be “Hainan” chicken noodle soup without that iconic scallion ginger oil. Made simply with hot sesame oil poured over grated ginger and chopped scallions, This sauce is an absolute must-have. The hot oil releases all the scallion-ginger aroma, which really maximizes the fragrance.
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Prepare the chicken by cutting off the head, feet, and butt. Scrub and exfoliate the chicken with salt inside and out. Rinse the chicken with water and pat dry.
- Add the chicken, ginger, 1 tbsp of salt, and 3 green onion in the instant pot. Make sure the chicken breast is facing up before adding water. Pour enough water depending on your instant pot’s size to cover most of the chicken except the chicken breast.
- Set to pressure cook for 25 minutes
- In the meantime, prepare your favorite noodles. Rinse the noodles with cold water once cooked and set aside
- In a bowl, grate in 3 tbsp of ginger, 4 cloves of grated garlic, 3 stalks of green onion chopped, and 1 tbsp of salt. Heat ¼ cup of Sesame Oil, and once the oil is hot, pour the oil into the bowl. Ensure removing the sesame oil before it turns dark as sesame oil burns quickly and may become bitter. Mix everything and set it aside.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool down on the side. It is easier to cut chicken the chicken when it cools off for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, add in noodles, add in chicken and pour on the hot broth. Serve with scallion-ginger oil, and enjoy!
INSTANT POT I RECOMMEND: https://amzn.to/3iQNLUl
Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
By Tiffy Cooks
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb Chicken Asian Supermarket *, Organic Free-Range
- 4 Slices Ginger
- 6 stalks Green Onion
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 6-8 cups Water not passing the chicken breast *
- 6 servings Noodles Use Your Favorite, I like rice noodles
Scallion Ginger Oil
- 3 tbsp Ginger grated
- 4 cloves Garlic grated
- ¼ cup Sesame Oil
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken by cutting off the head, feet, and butt. Scrub and exfoliate the chicken with salt inside and out. Rinse the chicken with water and pat dry.
- Add the chicken, ginger, 1 tbsp of salt, and 3 green onion in the instant pot. Make sure the chicken breast is facing up before adding water. Pour enough water depending on your instant pot’s size to cover most of the chicken except the chicken breast.
- Set to pressure cook for 25 minutes
- In the meantime, prepare your favorite noodles. Rinse the noodles with cold water once cooked and set aside
- In a bowl, grate in 3 tbsp of ginger, 4 cloves of grated garlic, 3 stalks of green onion chopped, and 1 tbsp of salt. Heat ¼ cup of Sesame Oil, and once the oil is hot, pour the oil into the bowl. Ensure removing the sesame oil before it turns dark as sesame oil burns quickly and may become bitter. Mix everything and set it aside.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool down on the side. It is easier to cut chicken the chicken when it cools off for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, add in noodles, add in chicken and pour on the hot broth. Serve with scallion-ginger oil, and enjoy!
This looks amazing! And thank you for the tip about not covering the chicken breast. I’ve tried making Hainanese chicken before where the breast didn’t come out very moist..now I know why! I was wondering, what noodles do you recommend? I didn’t see any noodle type listed in the ingredients list. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Omg I made this today and it is AMAZING!!!! I added a knorr kaffir lime and ginger stock pot cube with the water along with some chopped celery. I only had the ready to wok noodles so stir fried them with some coriander stalks and spring onions (green onions) and seasoned with sesame oil and Maggi seasoning.
The chicken was so tender and the tip about the water not covering the chicken breast was spot on!!
Thank you!
I made it for dinner tonight, and the flavor was good but I’ll reduce the amount of salt next time. I was only able to add 4 cups of water without covering the chicken breast so that might be part of it. The sauce was also delicious, but I’ll reduce the salt in that too.
So good! I followed all the ingredients, but I don’t have an instant pot so I just cooked it on high for 4 hours in my slow cooker 🙂 thank you for the simple but delicious meal! My family loved it
This soup deserves more attention!!!! Incredible easy, fast and so delicious!!! My new fav <3 More recipes like this pls (and more for instant pot <3 Love your blog and your recipes, always my go to!
Hello, I tried this recipe last night and it tasted great.
I assume it is quick release after cooking the chicken for 25mins? I wasn’t sure and left it for a bit, the chicken was a bit overcooked.
Hi Cherry, glad you like the flavors! Quick release should be ok!
Tiffy
I just made this for lunch and wow was it easy peasy and delicious! I used frozen chicken thighs that I had instead of the recommended free-run in the recipe but it still came out great. Perfect for cold days; this will be added to my repository!! Thanks, Tiffy!