GEORGE TOWN, April 26 ­— A bowl of herbal duck soup noodle is a satisfying meal that really hits the spot on a cold rainy day when you are craving something warm, fragrant and flavourful.

Packed with the goodness of Chinese herbs, the soup is as warming as it is nutritious for those seeking something to strengthen their immune system.

A bowl of this fragrant herbal soup usually consists of tender braised duck meat served with mee sua or smooth silken thin noodles and garnished with spring onions.

The soup is known as a powerful pick-me-up due to the Chinese herbs — tong sum, tong kui and ginseng — used in preparing the soup.

These herbs are believed to be able to strengthen the immune system and give you a spurt of energy on top of improving blood circulation.

Other than the herbs, the soup is sweetened with the addition of dried red dates and some wolfberries, also believed to strengthen the immune system and improve eyesight.

The duck meat, usually duck thigh, is double boiled along with the herbs resulting in a flavourful soup with the herbs effectively cutting out the duck’s gamey aroma, thus resulting in a herbal soup with just the slightest hint of the duck.

Due to the strong flavours of the herbs and the duck, the soup is usually served with the smooth, bland silken mee sua, or thin wheat noodles, for a perfect combination.

Since some people are put off by duck meat, duck soup noodle hawker stalls in Penang often serve a variation of the herbal soup -- chicken thigh noodles or pork noodles instead of duck.

The soup base is often the same – double boiled herbs – while the meat is different so it could be the milder chicken, the bolder duck  or the meatier pork.

Each bowl is served the same way, with pieces of the duck, chicken or pork, a generous serving of the silken soft noodles, some wolfberries and a sprinkle of chopped spring onions for that touch of green.

Hawker stalls selling these double boiled soups are getting fewer these days so it is not easy to find really good ones.

Do bear in mind that some hawker stalls no longer double boil the soups, but prepare large pots of it for convenience so each stall’s offering is bound to taste different.

Double boiling slowly extracts the natural flavours of the meat and the herbs, so soups prepared this way are definitely tastier.

For those who do not like the mee sua, they can also opt for vermicelli (rice noodles) or a mix of vermicelli and yellow noodles that add another dimension to the dish.

Naturally, you can also order just the soup and some stalls offer the option of serving the soup with a bowl of rice, if you prefer.

Here are five stalls worth trying out in Penang:

Roadside stall at Jalan Sungai Pinang GPS: 5.407821,100.318184 Time: 7.30am–12noon

Sin Yin Nam cafe, Jalan Macalister GPS: 5.415052,100.32655 Time: 6pm–11pm

77 Food Yard, Jalan Burmah GPS: 5.430427,100.312753 Time: 8am–12noon

Supertanker, Lengkok Nipah GPS: 5.342981,100.295117 Time: 6pm–11pm

Yang Way Cafe, Lebuh Kurau 3, Butterworth GPS: 5.385425,100.392431 Time: 7.30am–1pm