Spicy Chicken Soup
If snow day calls for time indoors, January in sunny climes presents the opportunity to connect with the healthy living that is a core value of life in the Golden State. Not that we want for snow in Southern California. Within driving distance from LA are the mountain lodges of Big Bear, anchoring one of the small towns that form the mosaic of LA living. Most Southern Californians will tell you that the diversity that draws us here is not just that of culture but of experience – on our own wheels, we can go from high desert to high rise, from ski slopes to water skis, from the sleek curves of the Pacific Coast Highway to the street tangle of DTLA.
And we can’t really say we don’t have winter. It isn’t the winter of snow plows and bundled layers, but it does get chilly at night. Well, chilly by comparison. One of the running jokes defectors from winter lands share is how thin our skins get once we settle in SoCal. I personally have marveled that, having spent 25 years on above ground subway platforms in January, I reach for my jacket when the mercury dips down to sixty.
Still, I have pleasant memories of snow. Moving from the Ozarks to the Pennsylvania hills in anticipation of going to college, I left behind the rarity of snowfall for its centrality as a fact of life to be planned for. Williamsport winters were as real as the fireplaces and stoves we gathered around. I weathered my first blizzard in Pennsylvania, and during them I learned the very definition of cozy. Winter folk plan ahead with a stocked pantry, so as we played cards at Nana's kitchen table, the picture window looking onto snow-filled skies over the icy shadows of the Susquehanna river, a pot of chicken soup cooked at a long slow simmer on the stovetop. There was hot coffee all day long from a silver percolater, and, towards eventide, a discreet bottle of brandy appeared. It was peaceful yet gently abustle, provided for with the caring of watchfulness filled with study and play.
Chicken soup seems an almost universal response to winter woes. It comes out of Jewish kitchens as thin clear broth substantiated by a matzoh ball and out of Eastern European kitchens rich with mushrooms and dumplings. Cuban chicken soup is envlivened with lime and cilantro, while the French interpretation is enriched with sweet Vermouth and fennel. At the deli they ladle an oily, hot broth into a blue to-go cup for workers cleaning up after the blizzard, while up the street at the diner, a ceramic bowl of avgolimono is plunked onto the counter with a saucer of lemon wedges.
We make a few chicken soups in our urban home, some of them printed as recipes on this blog. Here is the second of two more along with three enrichments, this one an interpretation of healthy flavors that is a cornerstone of California cooking. The chicken cooks slowly in a spice-infused broth not unlike the practice, in Ayurveda, of taking tonics of hot spices to cleanse, fortify, and rebalance the body. These “hot drinks” are typically made with milk or water; integrating them into broth balances two curative powerhouses for a bowl that embraces our health spiritually as well as physically -- and that is perhaps the greatest attribute of a great bowl of chicken soup.
Spicy Chicken Soup
Serve this soup with steamed white rice and soy sauce.
2 large bone-in chicken breasts, approximately 2-1/2 pounds total
1 white onion, peeled and cut into half-moon slices
1 bunch scallions
4 cloves garlic, peeled and pithed
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 Thai chiles
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
2 cardamom pods
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt
Cook the chicken / Make the soup base
2-1/2 hours before serving
And we can’t really say we don’t have winter. It isn’t the winter of snow plows and bundled layers, but it does get chilly at night. Well, chilly by comparison. One of the running jokes defectors from winter lands share is how thin our skins get once we settle in SoCal. I personally have marveled that, having spent 25 years on above ground subway platforms in January, I reach for my jacket when the mercury dips down to sixty.
Still, I have pleasant memories of snow. Moving from the Ozarks to the Pennsylvania hills in anticipation of going to college, I left behind the rarity of snowfall for its centrality as a fact of life to be planned for. Williamsport winters were as real as the fireplaces and stoves we gathered around. I weathered my first blizzard in Pennsylvania, and during them I learned the very definition of cozy. Winter folk plan ahead with a stocked pantry, so as we played cards at Nana's kitchen table, the picture window looking onto snow-filled skies over the icy shadows of the Susquehanna river, a pot of chicken soup cooked at a long slow simmer on the stovetop. There was hot coffee all day long from a silver percolater, and, towards eventide, a discreet bottle of brandy appeared. It was peaceful yet gently abustle, provided for with the caring of watchfulness filled with study and play.
Chicken soup seems an almost universal response to winter woes. It comes out of Jewish kitchens as thin clear broth substantiated by a matzoh ball and out of Eastern European kitchens rich with mushrooms and dumplings. Cuban chicken soup is envlivened with lime and cilantro, while the French interpretation is enriched with sweet Vermouth and fennel. At the deli they ladle an oily, hot broth into a blue to-go cup for workers cleaning up after the blizzard, while up the street at the diner, a ceramic bowl of avgolimono is plunked onto the counter with a saucer of lemon wedges.
We make a few chicken soups in our urban home, some of them printed as recipes on this blog. Here is the second of two more along with three enrichments, this one an interpretation of healthy flavors that is a cornerstone of California cooking. The chicken cooks slowly in a spice-infused broth not unlike the practice, in Ayurveda, of taking tonics of hot spices to cleanse, fortify, and rebalance the body. These “hot drinks” are typically made with milk or water; integrating them into broth balances two curative powerhouses for a bowl that embraces our health spiritually as well as physically -- and that is perhaps the greatest attribute of a great bowl of chicken soup.
Spicy Chicken Soup
Serve this soup with steamed white rice and soy sauce.
2 large bone-in chicken breasts, approximately 2-1/2 pounds total
1 white onion, peeled and cut into half-moon slices
1 bunch scallions
4 cloves garlic, peeled and pithed
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 Thai chiles
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
2 cardamom pods
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt
Cook the chicken / Make the soup base
2-1/2 hours before serving
- Place the chicken pieces in a large stock pot or Dutch oven.
- Place the peeled, cut onion, garlic, ginger, and chile into the pot.
- Sprinkle the mixture with the turmeric and a dash of salt.
- Place the coriander, mustard, and cardamom into a small square of cheesecloth. Tie the cloth together and nestle it onto the chicken/onion mixture.
- Gently cover the chicken mixture with cold water to cover by 3 inches.
- Place the lid on the pot.
- Cook on low, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked as a thin, very fragrant broth appears, approximately 2 hours.
Prepare the chicken
- Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove the meat from each piece as follows:
- Use tongs to place a piece on a clean cutting board with a reservoir
- Use the tongs to remove the skin and set the skin aside.
- Use the tongs or two forks to remove the meat in pieces. Place the chicken meat into a bowl as you go, placing bones and cartilage in a scraps bowl. Take care not to include any bones or cartilage.
- Cover the bowl containing the chicken with plastic wrap.
Prepare the vegetable garnishes
- Remove the root ends from the scallions and slice vertically into thin slices.
- Working carefully and wearing gloves, remove the stem end from each of the remaining two chiles. Slice the chiles vertically into thin slices.
Serve the soup
- For each bowl, place a handful of chicken into the bowl.
- Ladle the hot broth into the bowl to fill 2/3rds. Add enrichments as directed below if using.
- Serve immediately.
Spicy Chicken Soup with Bok Choy and Scallions
Cut 2 - 3 heads baby bok choy upwards through the core into halves; it is okay if some of the leaves come loose. Rinse the bok choy to remove grit, and poach in the hot broth, pot covered, while you prepare the chicken. Add some of the poached bok choy to the bowl with the chicken and broth; top with scallion, white parts only, sliced on the vertical and, if you wish, sliced Thai chile.
Spicy Chicken Soup with Tomato and Orange
Pour a 2-count of vegetable oil into a sauté pan. Place 2 -3 whole canned tomatoes the pan. Zest a small orange over the tomatoes. Saute the orange-tomato mixture on medium heat until thick and very fragrant. Add some of the orange-tomato mash to the bowl with the chicken.
Spicy Chicken Soup with Mushrooms and Sesame
Tear or cut 2 – 3 ounces dried Chinese mushrooms, such as wood ear, into a measuring cup with a spout. Cover with 1/2 cup of the hot broth and 1 teaspoon sesame oil; swirl to mix. Cover the measuring cup with plastic wrap and set aside. Add some of the reconstituted mushrooms to the bowl with the chicken.
Resources
Chicken Soup with Lime and Jalapeno
Chicken Stew with Artichokes
Nana's Chicken Noodle Soup
Spicy Chicken Soup with Tomato and Orange
Pour a 2-count of vegetable oil into a sauté pan. Place 2 -3 whole canned tomatoes the pan. Zest a small orange over the tomatoes. Saute the orange-tomato mixture on medium heat until thick and very fragrant. Add some of the orange-tomato mash to the bowl with the chicken.
Spicy Chicken Soup with Mushrooms and Sesame
Tear or cut 2 – 3 ounces dried Chinese mushrooms, such as wood ear, into a measuring cup with a spout. Cover with 1/2 cup of the hot broth and 1 teaspoon sesame oil; swirl to mix. Cover the measuring cup with plastic wrap and set aside. Add some of the reconstituted mushrooms to the bowl with the chicken.
Resources
Chicken Soup with Lime and Jalapeno
Chicken Stew with Artichokes
Nana's Chicken Noodle Soup
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