Healing Chicken Broth Soup with Chicken

I have a special association with chicken broth soup; it’s my go-to remedy whenever I’m feeling under the weather. Growing up, my dad would make it for my brother, my mom, or me whenever one of us was sick. Now, it’s the first thing I prepare for my husband or myself when we start to feel unwell.

This soothing, warming, and healthy dish wraps around you like a cozy blanket. In addition to the vegetables, I always add plenty of ginger and garlic to help kick out whatever is making my loved ones feel less than 100%.

The key to a great chicken broth is to start with the chicken, fresh veggies, and spices. After simmering, you’ll remove everything, leaving behind a flavorful broth. Then, simply add fresh vegetables and shredded chicken back into the pot. Cook it for just a little bit to ensure the veggies retain their shape and freshness.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

4 carrots

• 2 for the broth

• 2 for the soup

3 onions

• 2 for the broth

• 1 for the soup

5 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)

5 stalks of celery

• 3 for the broth

• 2 for the soup

2 pieces of ginger

• 1.5-inch piece for the broth

• 0.5-inch piece for the soup

A handful of parsley

• Use the stalks for the broth and the leaves for the soup

1 teaspoon of peppercorns

3 bay leaves

3 medium-sized potatoes (peeled and cubed)

Splash of soy sauce (for serving)

Prepare:

Broth:
First, we will make the broth. Take a large soup pot, place the chicken in it, and fill it with water. Next, take 2 onions, and without peeling the outer skin, cut them in half and add them to the pot with the chicken. Do the same with 2 carrots, 5 cloves of garlic, 3 stalks of celery, and a 1.5-inch piece of ginger. Be sure to wash all the vegetables, but remember that cooking them with their skins helps retain vitamins and enhances the flavor.

Don’t forget that this is a broth, not a soup yet, so you will be removing the vegetables later! Add bay leaves and peppercorns to the water as well. Once the water reaches a boil, reduce the heat so that it simmers gently, and cook for at least 2 hours. Truly, the longer you let it simmer, the better the flavor will be.

Soup:
Once you have cooked the broth for a couple of hours or more, carefully remove the chicken from the pot. The meat will easily fall from the bones, making it simple to separate. Discard the bones and shred the chicken into small pieces. You can do this easily by hand or with a knife.Next, remove all the vegetables from the broth. The easiest way to do this is to pour the liquid through a large sieve. Once you have a clean broth, pour it back into the pot.Now, add the remaining vegetables, which should all be chopped into cubes of similar size.

Cook the vegetables until the potatoes are soft, then add the shredded chicken back into the pot and let it cook for an additional 2 minutes.For a burst of flavor, take the remaining half of the ginger, peel it (the easiest way is to use the side of a spoon), and grate it into the soup using a microplane. I love this method of adding ginger because it distributes the flavor evenly without the risk of biting into a large piece unexpectedly.

I love adding a little splash of soy sauce to each individual bowl and enjoying it with a slice of bread that I lightly fry in butter and rub with a piece of garlic.