My comforting chicken soup recipe combines flavours from cuisines around the world.
It’s a classic recipe with an Asian twist and is inspired by far east Asian noodle broths, like Vietnamese pho and Japanese ramen. This soup really is one of those dishes I always go to when I feel I’m coming down with something. It always makes me feel better, tastes yummy and is gentle on the stomach. I just can’t get enough of it.
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Lactose-free, Soy-free
This comforting chicken soup was an excellent addition to my chemo diet. It was hydrating as well as nourishing.
Chicken soup is enjoyed all across the world. Every culture has its own special recipe for this ultimate comfort food, and this is my version of it.
It freezes well so I always make a big batch to portion it up for my freezer.
This soup also used to be the first meal I had when I got home after my 2 operations. It always went down very well and was exactly what I needed when recovering.
Delicious chicken soup
Ingredients
- 1 leek
- 2 celery stalks, preferably organic
- 1 red onion, peeled
- 1 bigger carrot, peeled, preferably organic
- 5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for at least 15 minutes
- 1 large piece of ginger, peeled
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup corn
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 chicken tights, organic
- a handful of flat brown rice noodles
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 jalapeño, optional, depending on how sensitive your stomach is
- 3 salad onions
- a squeeze of lime
- a bunch of coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Wash your vegetables thoroughly. Pay special attention to the leek and make sure that there’s absolutely no soil residue left there.
- Cut the leek, carrot and celery stalks into small, round, 1cm thick pieces. Roughly chop the ginger, garlic, onion and shiitake mushrooms.Ginger and shiitake bring some exotic and umami flavour to this dish together with some health benefits.
- Get a big, deep pot and heat up the olive oil on medium low heat. Add the onion, leek, carrot and celery and cook on medium-low heat with a lid on for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure nothing sticks to the pan. This is an essential soup base that brings tons of flavour.
- As soon as the vegetables start to soften up add the chicken and cook it on both sides, until it changes its colour from pink to what looks like cooked, making sure you stir the vegetable around so that they don’t catch.
- Pour in around 1.5 litres of cold, preferably filtered, water, add the chopped garlic, ginger and 2 bay leaves. Stir and on medium heat bring to boil. When it starts boiling lower the heat to low, cover with the lid and simmer for 40-45 minutes.When the meat is soft and falls of the bone you know it’s well cooked. This is when you can add the corn and peas and simmer on low heat for further 2-3 minutes.
- In the meantime, in another pan boil the water and cook the rice noodles according to the cooking instructions on the pack. These usually take around 5 minutes or so to be ready.
- Arrange the noodles and chicken in the bowl, add the soup and decorate with chopped salad onions, coriander, jalapeño and a squeeze of lime to give this dish the east Asian kick.
