Recipe for Chicken soup
Chicken soup is a soothing, comforting and easily digested broth, the perfect food for nourishing the blood, spleen and kidneys, strengthens the qi and immunity, making it a great tonic for women after their period and anyone in need of a boost or those convalescing.
The secret for a more nourishing and flavoursome soup is long, gentle cooking which extracts more nutrients from the bones, hence it makes sense to use the bones from the whole carcass as opposed to buying jointed pieces and cook it for as long as possible. You will NEVER produce a good stock if you just use chicken meat without the bones.
If you are a VEGETARIAN make a vegetable stock instead strain and then add more seasonal vegetables.
One batch of soup can last for days and can also be frozen.
Ingredients:
A few spring onions
½ inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1 whole chicken quartered or 4 chicken legs
2 dried shitake mushrooms
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves and spring onions to garnish.
Mix the sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and spring onions together and pour over the chicken pieces, coating each piece thoroughly. Leave to marinate in the fridge for up to two hours or even overnight.
Once the chicken has marinated for the desired length of time, soak the shitake mushrooms in hot water for 10-15 minutes and drain.
Place the chicken with the marinade and shitake mushrooms in a large pan and cover with boiling water and then a tight fitting lid. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat simmering very gently for at least 2 hours making sure there is enough water.
Once cooked, remove the chicken pieces, discarding the skin and bones and strain the soup keeping the shitake mushrooms. Add the chicken meat and shitake mushrooms to the soup and serve. You can add freshly chopped spring onion and coriander to the soup at the end if desired.
Use a little bit of salt and pepper to season to taste. Enjoy!