One Sec...
Magic Anti-Sickness Soup
They are dropping like flies around here. Half my workplace has been out sick in the past few weeks and my kid is full of snot.
I don't have time for the seasonal plague so I decided to concoct a soup that will kill any virus within a mile.
I was going to post this in recipes, but I always make stuff up without measurements and forget to take pictures before it's consumed. This one is Asian inspired, but I make all sorts of chicken soups. My second favorite is inspired by a Lebanese restaurant I used to frequent when I lived in Boston. I'll post that one, too if anyone is interested.
Grocery list:
Roasted whole chicken (where I work the organic free range ones are cheaper to buy cooked than raw)
Handful of shitake mushrooms (one of the many things I love about living in Oregon)
3 medium carrots
Handful of celery tips with leaves
Couple baby bok choys
Yellow onion
Stalk of lemongrass
Serrano pepper
A good chunk of ginger
Garlic
Tamari or Braggs
Fish sauce
Toasted sesame oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Limes
Cilantro
Soba noodles
Siracha hot sauce (fondly referred to as Cock sauce in this house)
Most of the stuff on this list is stuff I have on hand. Fresh shitakes are in season right now, but I will use dried ones instead if they aren't available.
When I got home I ripped apart the chicken and set the meat aside in the fridge. The carcass got smashed up and thrown in the crock pot.
Meanwhile I heated up a cast iron pan and sprinkled with a small amount of oil. I sliced up about two inches of fresh ginger, half a yellow onion (with skin), sliced serrano pepper, chunks of carrot, celery, chopped lemongrass, and about a half a head of garlic with the cloves smashed, but not peeled. Seared the whole thing with a good amount of sea salt and ground pepper.
Dumped all of this on top of the chicken bones then covered with water and a splash of Tamari (I only had Braggs, but would have preferred the Tamari). Cook on high for 2-3 hours. I prefer cooking it on low all day long for richer flavor, but this was an emergency and turned out just fine.
I placed a strainer on a soup pot and dumped it all in. While it was draining I sauted some more carrot, onion, bok choy, mushrooms and garlic until slightly soft then dumped into the soup pot along with the chopped chicken I'd ripped from the carcass. Poured in more warm water and cooked on medium low. Added a good amount of fish sauce and continued to taste for desired saltiness for about a half an hour then added a fistful of dry soba noodles. Noodles cooked really fast. Sprinkled with some toasted sesame oil and served it all up to hungry sniffly people with some lime, cilantro, and a squeeze of cock sauce.
I feel like a million bucks and my kid is back in school.
It was really nice and spicy and it made me sweat and my nose run, but everyone ate it like they hadn't seen food in months. There was a giant vat of the stuff and not a drop was left in the pan for the next day.
I don't have time for the seasonal plague so I decided to concoct a soup that will kill any virus within a mile.
I was going to post this in recipes, but I always make stuff up without measurements and forget to take pictures before it's consumed. This one is Asian inspired, but I make all sorts of chicken soups. My second favorite is inspired by a Lebanese restaurant I used to frequent when I lived in Boston. I'll post that one, too if anyone is interested.
Grocery list:
Roasted whole chicken (where I work the organic free range ones are cheaper to buy cooked than raw)
Handful of shitake mushrooms (one of the many things I love about living in Oregon)
3 medium carrots
Handful of celery tips with leaves
Couple baby bok choys
Yellow onion
Stalk of lemongrass
Serrano pepper
A good chunk of ginger
Garlic
Tamari or Braggs
Fish sauce
Toasted sesame oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Limes
Cilantro
Soba noodles
Siracha hot sauce (fondly referred to as Cock sauce in this house)
Most of the stuff on this list is stuff I have on hand. Fresh shitakes are in season right now, but I will use dried ones instead if they aren't available.
When I got home I ripped apart the chicken and set the meat aside in the fridge. The carcass got smashed up and thrown in the crock pot.
Meanwhile I heated up a cast iron pan and sprinkled with a small amount of oil. I sliced up about two inches of fresh ginger, half a yellow onion (with skin), sliced serrano pepper, chunks of carrot, celery, chopped lemongrass, and about a half a head of garlic with the cloves smashed, but not peeled. Seared the whole thing with a good amount of sea salt and ground pepper.
Dumped all of this on top of the chicken bones then covered with water and a splash of Tamari (I only had Braggs, but would have preferred the Tamari). Cook on high for 2-3 hours. I prefer cooking it on low all day long for richer flavor, but this was an emergency and turned out just fine.
I placed a strainer on a soup pot and dumped it all in. While it was draining I sauted some more carrot, onion, bok choy, mushrooms and garlic until slightly soft then dumped into the soup pot along with the chopped chicken I'd ripped from the carcass. Poured in more warm water and cooked on medium low. Added a good amount of fish sauce and continued to taste for desired saltiness for about a half an hour then added a fistful of dry soba noodles. Noodles cooked really fast. Sprinkled with some toasted sesame oil and served it all up to hungry sniffly people with some lime, cilantro, and a squeeze of cock sauce.
I feel like a million bucks and my kid is back in school.
It was really nice and spicy and it made me sweat and my nose run, but everyone ate it like they hadn't seen food in months. There was a giant vat of the stuff and not a drop was left in the pan for the next day.
Lebanese variation
Make broth with chicken, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, a whole lemon cut in half, a few cinnamon sticks, fresh parsley and mint, whole allspice, salt and pepper.
The soup itself should have chicken, carrots, celery, onion, pine nuts, long grain rice AND spaghetti. With a sprinkle of cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon at the end.