Tibetan-Nepali noodle soup (Thukpa)

1. Bring the chicken breasts to the boil in the salted water and simmer for 15 minutes. Lift out and shred into thin strips; keep the stock.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the thinly sliced onion for 4 minutes, then add the crushed garlic, grated ginger and chopped green chillies and fry for 1 more minute.

3. Add the diced tomatoes and the Sichuan pepper crushed in a mortar and cook for 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes break down.

4. Pour in the chicken stock, add the carrots cut into thin strips and cook for 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the chicken.

5. Cook the noodles separately according to the packet, drain and divide between bowls. Drop the spinach into the hot soup in the last minute.

6. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles and serve sprinkled with spring onion or coriander.

Tip: Thukpa is the warming winter soup of the Himalayas; it travelled from Tibet to Nepal, Sikkim and Ladakh. Sichuan pepper (timur in Nepali) adds a slightly numbing, citrusy note; if you have none, a little black pepper will do.