PF Chang's Chicken Soup

This past weekend Stephen came down with a bit of a cold, so of course I started scouring my Pinterest Boards for a delicious Chicken Noodle Soup recipe to hasten the healing process... But then I remembered how delicious the soup from PF Chang's is (and how well it clears out the sinuses) and decided that I would try to re-create it myself!  Luckily, we live near a HUGE Asian market so I was able to find ingredients like lemongrass quite easily (more on that later).  In the end, I learned a lot about what NOT to do in the soup (more on this later) but the final product tasted EXTREMELY similar to the real deal.  I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did! (PS. Sorry for the poor picture quality, I took this with my iPhone )

What You Will Need:

• 2 Cups Chicken Meat (I used a mixture of both dark and light meat)
• 8 Cups Chicken Broth
• 3 T. Fresh Ginger (I like to grate mine using a Zester, it's super easy and blends well!)
• 8-12 Cloves Garlic 
• 3 Stalks Lemongrass
• Cheese Cloth
• 1 T Red Curry Paste
• 1 T Chili Oil
• 1 T Soy Sauce
• 1 Cup Shitake Mushrooms
• 1 Cup Cherry Tomatoes

For Later....

• 4 T Cilantro
• 1/2 Lime
• 1/2 Package Rice Noodles (These aren't the exact same as in the original recipe but they are pretty close!)

Directions:

First, add the Chili Oil and Garlic to a saucepan. Once heated, add in Chicken and Sear for 2-3 minutes on all sides.  Then add the chicken to a large sized pot.  Before adding the rest of the ingredients (except for the Cilantro) dice the lemongrass and place inside the cheesecloth and tie off, this will infuse the soup with the flavor but save you the pain of straining the soup when you realize it's way too hard to eat (OOPS!) and cook for 30 min on medium low.  Once the Chicken is done, and the soup is heated through, add to serving bowl with a handful of Cherry Tomatoes and Cilantro.