Chicken Soup
London, United Kingdom · View all recipes
Overview
Chicken soup is chicken simmered in water with vegetables and aromatics, and it exists in more or less every cuisine that keeps chickens. Its reputation as a remedy for colds is genuinely cross-cultural and unusually persistent. Every version of it, Jewish, Chinese, Greek, West African, Latin American, carries some form of the same claim, which is a reasonable indication that people have found it useful for a long time. Warm liquid, salt and steam all plausibly help someone with a cold feel better, whatever else is going on. The technique is entirely about the broth. A good chicken soup is made by simmering gently rather than boiling, a hard boil emulsifies the fat into the liquid and turns it cloudy and greasy. Skimming the surface in the first twenty minutes removes the scum that would otherwise cloud it further. Bones matter more than meat. A carcass, wings or thighs give far more body than breast, because collagen from the bones and joints is what gives broth its weight. **Filed as Worldwide.** Chicken soup belongs to no single cuisine, and the recipe as written makes no particular national claim.
AFN Heritage Note
Chicken soup appears across virtually every cuisine that keeps poultry, and its association with treating colds and influenza is documented across many unrelated food cultures.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Put the bones and carcass from a leftover chicken (they can be in pieces) in a large pot. Cover with the broth and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Skim any foam or fat from the broth with a ladle as necessary.
- 2
Remove the bones and carcass with tongs or a slotted spoon; set aside to cool. Add the carrots, celery, onion and bay leaf to the broth, bring back to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are about half cooked (they will still have resistance when tested with a knife but be somewhat pliable when bent), about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice (to keep it from sticking to the bottom), and cook until the grains are just al dente, 10 to 12 minutes.
- 3
Meanwhile, when the carcass and bones are cool enough to handle, pick off the meat, and shred it into bite-size pieces.
- 4
When the rice is done, add the meat to the broth and simmer until warmed through, about 1 minute. Stir in the parsley, and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste. Serve hot.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Nympha Nzeribe- Simmer gently, never boil. A hard boil turns the broth cloudy and greasy and it cannot be reversed.
- Skim the surface during the first twenty minutes to keep it clear.
- Use bones, a carcass, wings or thighs, rather than breast alone. Collagen is what gives broth body.
- Add delicate vegetables and herbs near the end so they do not disintegrate.
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