Chicken soup is delicious, healthy and easy to prepare whether you have the flu or just want to eat it. This infinitely modifiable recipe is a nutritious addition to any dish or a delicious main dish. This recipe is enough for about 6 servings.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, 1.3 kg to 1.8 kg.
- Parsley
- 2, 365 liters of cold water (varies in size - you need enough water to cover all the ingredients)
- 2 cubes chicken bouillon stock (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Preparing the Chicken
Step 1. Wash the chicken thoroughly
As with all types of poultry, use cold water when washing chicken. Hot or warm water can encourage the growth of bacteria that cause salmonella and other illnesses.
Step 2. Check the cavity of the chicken body
The chest cavity of some chickens is stuffed with gizzards, necks, or other organs. If this is the case with your chicken, don't forget to remove the organs before continuing with the cooking process, although there's no way you might accidentally add the parts to the soup.
Step 3. Trim excess fat
Use a sharp knife, kitchen shears, or your hands to remove any excess fat that is hanging from the bottom of the chicken. If tucked into soup, this flabby fat would be a disgusting surprise to anyone unlucky enough to get it on their plate.
Step 4. Cut the chicken legs
Pull each leg away from the body and cut with a sharp knife. Once you've cut them off, you can separate the thighs from the chicken thighs by cutting along the "fat line" that marks the joint between the leg and thigh.
Step 5. Cut the wings
Similar to how to cut the legs, pull each wing away from the body and cut it off with a sharp knife. Cut the wing in half at the joint and discard the smaller "tip".
Step 6. Cut the chest
Use a sawing motion to remove the breast meat from the ribs (for safety reasons, cut from back to front). Spread the breasts out on a cutting board and separate them from the bones by making lengthwise cuts along each side of the center of the chest. After cutting, re-examine each section of the chest to make sure there are no bones or pieces of bone remaining.
At this stage you can cut the breast meat into halves, quarters or in as many pieces as you like
Place the chicken pieces in a large saucepan. When you've chopped the chicken to your liking, just put it in a large saucepan and you're done. If you want, you can also remove the skin from the chicken, although this step is not essential.
Part 2 of 2: Cooking Soup
Step 1. Add water to cover chicken, salt and bay leaf
Add enough water to cover the entire chicken, but not too much - if your soup is too thick, you can always add more water later, while waiting for the water to decrease in a soup that's too runny is a time-consuming process.
Optionally you can also add chicken bouillon stock at this stage for extra flavor
Step 2. Cover the pot and bring the contents to a boil
If cooked over medium-high heat, this process usually takes about 8-10 minutes, but may take longer or faster depending on how much water you use.
Open the lid of the pot and scoop out the foam that has formed on the surface of the soup with a spoon. When the water starts to boil, remove the lid from the pot and remove any scum on the surface of the water with a wooden spoon. This will prevent the water from overflowing from the pan. Let it simmer over low heat for 2 hours 15 minutes. Your goal is to make the chicken so tender that it falls off the bone. While your soup is simmering slowly, check periodically to make sure the chicken is cooked to perfection. This step is also to remove the foam that has formed on the top of the pan.
Step 1. Add the onions, celery, carrots and a pinch or two of parsley
After the chicken has cooked for a few hours, you can add vegetables that take less time to cook.
Let it simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes. Stir periodically to ensure the soup is evenly mixed and to reduce the foam that forms on the surface. Strain the soup, save the broth. Strain the soup into another saucepan or similar container so you can accommodate the gravy. Separate the chicken from the bones, discarding the unappetizing parts. When done, return the gravy, chicken and vegetables to the pot and serve.
Step 1. Optionally, put cooked noodles or rice in a bowl and add soup
To remake a bowl of classic "chicken noodle soup" from your childhood, simply add cooked noodles (or rice) to the soup. Pasta and rice take less time to cook than soup, so you can prepare these ingredients while your soup is simmering slowly with plenty of time left.
Variation
- Replace the noodles with rice or dumplings.
- Substitute water for cooking rice or noodles with gravy for more flavor.
- Season with lots of anise. I only used salt and anise for this recipe.
- Add a little dry white wine to enrich the taste - the alcohol content will be lost as it cooks making it safe for children.
- Add a can of drained canned tomatoes. As an alternative, Spicy V-8 juice provides a different taste.
- Use soy sauce and ginger for an Asian-style soup.
- Add roll. Reduce the heat to the stove until the soup stops bubbling, immediately add the rolade pieces, return the heat to the stove so that the soup boils very slowly for 20 minutes.
Tips
- If you are vegetarian, you can substitute chicken for tofu or potatoes.
- You can also add potatoes.
- Add a variety of different vegetables for a delicious taste.
- Make your own noodles or use good quality egg noodles.
- Add a little sugar, sugar gives it a great taste.
