Chicken Soup for the Soul

This is a dish on its own and that you can pretty much cook this dish to last you at least 3 days. There are so many kinds of version of this soup, depending on one's taste of course but to make it nutritious, well balance and tasty do not really need that much of ingredients. The best part is that keeping the soup for a few more days actually brings more flavour and essence out of the dish!

I love this dish for it's simplicity and well-nourish ingredients, as you don't need any oil at all (it all comes from the chicken) and as the cold weather draws near, there's nothing more fulfilling than a lovely delicious soup.

Mmmm...so perfect for winter

Mum taught me the simplest way to make this soup: Chicken and water. And to make chicken rice, I normally use the soup for cooking the rice.

But I've decided to add a little bit more vegetables to balance the meal. I think this is my simplest version of making chicken soup.


Ingredients:

(If it's for one person, this can last for about 3 days)

• 3 chicken thighs or drumsticks or carcass (make sure you buy any meat that includes bones as that is where you bring out the nutrients and flavour)
• 1 onion chopped into cubes
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into quarters (cubes will make them soften faster)
  
• 1 carrot chopped into slices
  
• 1 tbsp salt
• 5 cups of water

Optional: Chinese herbs that you can buy per-packed in chinatown. I normally get mine from See Woo and they have english labels =)

Method:

1. If using herbs, place them into the pot and bring it to boil before adding the chicken. Let it then simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
   
2. If not, pour cold water into a pot and insert the chicken.
3. Bring the pot to boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes. At this time, add the carrots and potatoes.
   
4. And then simmer for 10 minutes.
5. While simmering, add salt and onions.
6. Optional to add more salt or water to taste.

Leftover soup can be kept in the fridge for a week (just pop it into the microwave to heat it up again) or in the freezer for a month. Make sure you let it cool completely before placing it into the fridge.

And if you want to use the soup as the stock, all you can do is just drain whatever is in it, pour on ice cubes and pop it in the freezer to be used anytime.