Chicken Soup
Chicken soup for the soul! This is my Mum’s recipe and this liquid gold truly is the best medicine for everything from colds and fevers, to heartache, headaches and the gut. As my nephew would say it’s delicious, he loves it so much he has it for breakfast! Chicken Soup goes on the boil early Thursday mornings and lasts (just about) to the end of the weekend!
Ingredients
- 1 whole skin-on chicken, cut into pieces (either use a fowl or chicken)
- 1 packet chicken giblets (you’ll get these from a local kosher butcher)
- 8 pints cold water
- 2 celery sticks, each cut into 3 pieces
- 4 large carrots, peeled then sliced lengthways, each cut into 4 pieces
- 1 white onion – 1 peeled and quartered
- 1 red onion, left whole with skin on – this gives the soup colour
- 1 leek, sliced into 3
- 1 parsnip, peeled and quartered
- 2 chicken stock cubes, (gluten free if required) or 2 tbsp. Herbamare (I personally only use herbamare)
- 1-2 tsp sugar
- sea salt
- white pepper
garnish
- buckwheat, mung bean or rice vermicelli noodles or you can visit myrelationshipwithfood.com for my chickpea pasta recipe to make homemade lokshen noodles
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken pieces and giblets under cold, running water, then place them into a large, 8 litre capacity stock pot, (if you are using chicken soup bags, add the chicken to the bags, see Lisa’s tip) cover with the cold water, then gently bring to the boil and continue to boil for 20-30 minutes. As the water bubbles, use a large tablespoon or fine mesh skimmer to skim away any foam or impurities that rise to the surface and discard.
- Once the stock has no more foam left to skim, season with sea salt and white pepper, add the sugar, then add either the stock cubes or Herbamare - as I’ve mentioned about I use 2 tbsp. Herbamare and stir well until dissolved.
- Add the vegetables, then bring the liquid back to simmering point before covering the pan and leaving it to simmer over a low heat for at least 3 hours, checking for seasoning just before the cooking time is up.
- Remove the pan from the heat, then leave it to cool for around an hour before straining it, discarding the giblets, and setting aside the chicken and vegetables.
- Shred some of the reserved chicken, then return it to the liquid, along with any of the cooked vegetables that take your fancy – I particularly like to keep the carrots.
- If you want to serve the soup immediately, then gently re-heat until simmering or, alternatively, you can leave the soup to cool then refrigerate.
- Enjoy!
- When making this recipe, I’d LOVE to see how you get on so either send me a photo to lisa@myrelationshipwithfood.com or post a picture to Instagram using the #myrelationshipwithfood and tag @myrelationshipwithfood
Notes
LISA’S TIP – I love to use chicken soup boiling bags when I make this recipe as it keeps the chicken and giblets all together during cooking and makes removing them afterwards quick and easy. You can buy theses online or visit a kosher supermarket, (they are called sack n-boil). The flavour of chicken soup will improve with keeping, so it really is one of those great ones to have on standby in the fridge for whenever you need something quick and soothing – it will keep there for up to 5 days but can also be frozen, either as it is or in ice-cube trays, ready for whenever a recipe calls for chicken stock. If you do refrigerate the soup, then you’ll notice it becomes quite jelly-like in texture, but it will go back to glorious liquid gold as soon as you reheat it. And don’t be tempted to throw away the fat that forms of the surface of the soup as it cools, this can be used to make the most delicious roast potatoes! If you want to make this a little more substantial, then you can add your favourite sort of noodles or small pasta shapes. Any leftover chicken (if you're not using a fowl) can easily be transformed into another one of my recipes; Curried Chicken Salad – it’s great as a sandwich filling, on baked potatoes or just eaten as it is! You can find the recipe over on www.myrelationshipwithfood.com. Alternatively, if you prefer something hot, then gently fry a chopped onion until it’s soft and sweet, add the shredded chicken with some cooked, long-grain rice and a few generous squeezes of ketchup – I grew up on this and it really is delicious!
