Saturday 3 November 2012

Chicken soup

I have been feeling very sorry for myself these last few days, suffering from some sort of nasty cold. The only thing I felt like eating on Thursday was chicken soup. I'm not sure why, but that's all my head felt that my stomach could handle.

Naturally I had few of the ingredients necessary to make chicken soup in my house (most importantly, chicken). Luckily, I have a wonderfully obliging partner who called in to the supermarket on his way home from work armed with a list of ingredients needed.

My chicken soup was a raging success, if I do say so myself. It hit the spot, and I credit it with my speedy recovery (although resting and drinking lots of fluids may also have something to do with it).

So, here's how to make my chicken soup. This made enough for dinner and lunch the next day for the two of us. You will need:
Garlic - I used about five chopped cloves as I wanted it super-garlic infused
A finely diced carrot (plus another half a carrot I had lounging about in the fridge)
A tin of whole kernel corn (or fresh corn if it's in season)
1L of chick stock
Three bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed)
Frozen peas (I didn't measure them - probably about half a cup)
Two handfuls of dried rice noodles broken into small bits
Salt, pepper, parsley, thyme

What to do:
Gently fry the carrots and garlic until softened. Add the chicken thighs and just give them a quick fry to give them some colour. Add the stock and herbs. The liquid should cover the meat - if not, just add a bit of water. Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 40 minutes - until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken onto a plate and let it cool a bit. While it's cooling, add your corn, peas and rice noodles. Shred all your chicken off the bone, and add the meat back to the pot with some more fresh herbs. Taste and season to your liking.

Some notes: If you don't like thigh meat, or bones, you could use chicken breast. Although, I think thigh meat gives much better flavour and is less likely to dry out.
I don't eat onion, but if you do, I'd throw a finely diced onion in there too. Finely diced celery would also be a tasty addition.

Ahhh, how good does that look. Deliciously comforting.