Top chefs share secrets for chicken soups from around the world
THE comforting qualities of a bowl of chicken soup are universal, no matter whether it is soured with tamarind, streaked with egg or has matzo balls bobbing at the surface. Simon Wilkinson and Dan Stock share some of the best from around the world.
FOR Koreans it’s juk, a chicken-flavoured congee-like porridge. For Greeks it’s the lemony avgolemono, while Filipinos swear by arroz caldo. Student share houses are fuelled by the two-minute variety, and many a miraculous recovery from a nasty cold or flu will be attributed to nothing other than a bowl of Jewish penicillin.
It is, of course, chicken soup – the failsafe cure that knows no boundaries.
So simple and humble yet with cold-busting properties that border on the mystical, in these uncertain times when there seems little you can count on, chicken soup delivers more than just soul food with a spoon.
It’s safety, security – an act of generosity with the feel-good factor turned up to 11.
Here are some brilliant bowls from around the globe that go beyond the simple chicken and broth to deliver cuddles of comfort both delicious and nutritious.
JAPANESE
Ramen, the great noodle soup of Japan, comes in many forms and regional variations, from the light, cleansing shio or shoyu styles, to richer tonkotsu made with slowly simmered pork bones. The country’s yakitori bars have developed their own, using parts of the chicken that don’t make it on to the grill.
“On my last trip to Japan we went to one of the most famous underground yakitori places and part of their meal was a soup that you finished as a sign of respect that you had eaten every part of the chicken: the breast, thigh, offal, meatball and, finally, ramen,” says Adam Liston(pictured)from Shobosho.
It’s a concept he has brought to Sho, the yakitori grill opened at street level at the front of the restaurant. The Sho ramen is based on an intense golden broth made from the chicken frames left over from birds that have roasted on the rotisserie upstairs, and other offcuts.
He adds dried bonito flakes for an extra umami hit and a chickpea-based miso from Tasmania. Fresh noodles are sourced from nearby Himeji Restaurant in Grote St. Sliced chicken meat, boiled egg and pickled oyster mushrooms add
more substance.
“The ramen is quite filling,” Adam says.
Adam says chicken soup has a comforting, nurturing quality that is universal.
“Everyone, whether they are from the Western or Eastern parts of the world, has memories of … being fed chicken soup,” he says.
SHOBOSHO RAMEN
serves /4
cook / 4 hours plus 5 hours to steep
BROTH
1kg roasted chicken bones
1 onion, peeled, roasted
1 kombu sheet
1.5 litres water
1 handful bonito flakes
150g red miso
100g white miso
100ml white dashi
100ml quality soy sauce
MUSHROOMS
200g oyster mushroom, sliced
150ml rice wine vinegar
60g caster sugar
EGGS
4 eggs
250ml soy sauce
75ml mirin
TO FINISH
6 squares nori
100g spring onion, finely sliced
2 chicken breasts, grilled and sliced
400g fresh ramen noodle (or cook dried noodles according to packet directions)
FOR BROTH
1Put chicken, onion, kombu and water into a large pot, bring to the boil and simmer for 4 hours. Take off the heat. Add bonito flakes. Put on lid and leave to steep for five hours. Strain. Add misos, dashi and soy sauce and stir to combine.
FOR MUSHROOMS
2Put 200ml water, rice wine vinegar and caster sugar into a pot, bring to the boil then take off heat. Leave mushrooms in liquid to pickle for 1 hour.
FOR EGGS
3Lower eggs gently into a pot of boiling water and cook for 6 ½ minutes. Cool under running water and then peel. Marinate eggs in a mix of soy and mirin for 1 to 3 hours, then halve.
TO FINISH
4To serve, put cooked noodles in the bottom
of a large bowl, top with chicken breast, spring onions, mushroom and egg halves. Pour over boiling ramen stock and put in nori squares.
RECIPE / Adam Liston
VIETNAMESE
While the beef-based pho might be Vietnam’s most famous food export, it is a dish that people eat mostly when they are out.
For Vietnamese home cooks, like those in many other parts of the world, a chicken soup is quicker, cheaper and has a nurturing effect that can’t be beaten.
“It warms the soul,” says Jennifer Luong, from the NNQ group of restaurants. “It’s like your first cup of coffee in the morning … you go ‘aaawww’.
“It just hits the spot.”
Jennifer says the traditional soup, as made by her grandmother, would be based on an older chicken or boiler, which would give a distinct, powerful flavour to the broth but is not so good for its meat.
Often the soup would be quite plain, with egg or rice noodles, a few vegetables and shredded meat.
Another popular version uses tamarind to make the soup more sour.
“It can be hot as well, which in our house it usually is, because Mum and Dad use ridiculous amount of chillies,” Jennifer says.
The soup also contains the spongy stem of the “elephant ear” plant, part of the taro family. It can be eaten with prawns or fish.
CANH CHUA GÀ
serves / for 1 large bowl to share
cook / 4 hours
1 whole boiler chicken
2 tbsp tamarind soup base powder
2 diced chicken thighs (breast dries out)
1 tomato, quartered
¼ small pineapple, sliced
Handful okra, halved
lengthways
2 handfuls bean sprouts
1 elephant ear stem, sliced
Fried garlic, to garnish
Rice patty herb (rau om), to garnish
Rice or vermicelli noodles, to serve
1 Cover boiler chicken with cold water, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Skim off any scum and allow to simmer for 2 hours, before straining.
2 Place 500ml chicken broth in a pot and add tamarind soup powder. Place chicken thighs into broth and simmer until cooked.
3 Add quartered tomato and pineapple slices and simmer for 2-5 minutes. Add okra and simmer for 1 minute. Add bean sprouts and elephant ear stem and simmer for 1 minute.
4 Pour soup into a large serving bowl and garnish with fried garlic and rice patty herb. Enjoy with rice or over vermicelli noodles.
RECIPE / Huong Ngo, NNQ group
PHOTOGRAPHY / Matt Turner
ITALIAN
When the Italians talk of “stracciatella” they could be referring to a soft, white cheese or a favourite flavour of gelato, with little flakes of chocolate.
But the word, which translates roughly as “little shreds”, can also refer to a wonderful soup, in which a simmering chicken broth, or brodo, is finished with a drizzle of egg and parmesan that sets into strands.
It’s a dish Andre Ursini, from Andre’s Cucina & Polenta Bar, recalls fondly.
“It’s a delicious and nostalgic dish – a real Sunday night dinner,” he says.
For his version he whisks together egg, parmigiano and breadcrumbs, then slowly drizzles the mixture into the soup that has just come off the boil. “The ratio of egg to the broth is really important,” he says.
“It still needs to be a soup. ”
Chicken soup has been a constant in Andre’s life since he was a small boy.
“Growing up there was always a cold chicken brodo in our fridge. At my nonna’s house it would be first course before going to a bigger meat dish. And it’s my wife’s go-to family meal … she has been feeding it to me for years”.
ITALIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
serves / 4
prep / 20 mins
c ook / 1 hour 55 mins
3 cups chicken stock
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 dried bay leaf
1.6kg whole chicken
80g spaghetti, broken
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
1 Place stock, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf and
6 cups water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Add chicken, breast-side down. Cover. Simmer for 90 minutes.
2 Transfer chicken to a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool slightly. Strain stock into a large heatproof bowl or jug. Discard solids. Return stock to pan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Add pasta. Simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.
3 Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin and bones. Using two forks, shred chicken.
4 Return chicken to soup. Cook for 2 minutes or until heated through. Stir in lemon juice and oregano. Season and serve topped with basil.
RECIPE / Cathie Lonnie & Claire Brookman, Super Food Ideas
PHOTOGRAPHY / Andrew Young
JEWISH
“I didn’t learn to cook from my mum, but I did learn to cook because of my mum,” says Amanda Ruben.
In her new book, Feasting, Amanda shares many of the recipes she serves at her popular Melbourne cafe that are inspired by her mum and Jewish heritage – which includes, of course, a recipe for golden chicken soup with matzo balls.
“My mum always used chicken soup as an analogy for life and bringing up children,” Amanda writes in the book. “It’s only going to be as good as what goes into it.”
GOLDEN CHICKEN SOUP
makes / 5 litres
6 chicken carcasses
1kg chicken wings or drumettes
1 whole chicken
1kg beef or veal topside (round steak)
6 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, with leaves, roughly chopped
2 parsnips, roughly chopped
2 leeks, white part only, roughly chopped
1 onion, halved
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 bunch dill, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish
3 tbsp salt, plus extra to taste
Matzo balls, to serve
Homemade egg noodles, to serve (optional)
1 Wash the chicken carcasses to remove any impurities and place in a large 8-10 litre stockpot.
2 Cover with cold water, leaving a gap of 2.5cm at the top of the pot. Bring to the boil and remove any foam that rises to the surface.
3 Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 3 hours. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Remove from the heat.
4 Use tongs to transfer all the chicken and meat to a large board. Leave it to cool for
15 minutes, then pick the chicken and meat off the bones and tear it into bite-sized pieces. Place in an airtight container.
5 Remove the vegetables from the pot. Set aside any that you want to serve with the soup, placing them in a separate airtight container, and discard the rest.
6 Strain the soup through a fine-meshed sieve into a third large airtight container. Close the lid and transfer to the refrigerator to cool overnight, along with the containers of chicken and vegetables.
7 When you’re ready to serve, skim the fat off the surface of the soup and pour into a large stockpot. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Add the matzo balls and reduce the heat to medium. Add the chicken and vegetables, and simmer for
10 minutes, until the matzo balls are heated through.
8 Arrange the noodles in serving bowls and ladle over the hot soup and matzo balls. Top with fresh dill sprigs.
MATZO BALLS
makes / 16
110g fine matzo meal
90g coarse matzo meal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
6 large eggs, beaten
60ml vegetable oil
1 Combine the matzo meals, baking powder, salt and the white pepper in a bowl.
2 In another bowl, whisk together the beaten eggs and vegetable oil, then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix gently with a wooden spoon.
3 Roll the mixture into
45g balls, and set aside on a baking tray. Fill a large stockpot with salted water, and bring to the boil.
4 Once the water is boiling, carefully drop in the matzo balls. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot with a lid or foil. Simmer the balls for 45-50 minutes.
5 Remove the stockpot from the heat and lift the balls out of the water with a slotted spoon. Transfer them to a plate and leave to cool.
NOTE / You can easily vary the flavour of these matzo balls. Try adding:
2 tsp ground cinnamon and
2 tbsp chopped dill, or 2 tsp ground turmeric and 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, to the mixture before you roll the balls.
This is an edited extract from Feasting by Amanda Ruben (Hardie Grant Books, RRP $49.99)