Mum's chicken soup

Full disclosure: this is actually a hybrid of my mum's traditional Friday night chicken soup and my grandma's evolved recipe, which uses only the wings of the chicken when she’s making a small batch for herself. Or you can give it a go with thighs/legs. All work really well.

It may be a long cook, but there’s really not that much to do. It simmers away in the background, making the home smell wonderful. This is the ultimate, warm, homely comfort food for me. A bowl full of deliciousness and cures ALL ailments.

Serves: 4 with plenty leftover

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 5+ hours

processed_PSX_20211011_122540.jpg

Ingredients

2 carrots (cut into 2 cm chunks) 

1 onion (quartered) 

2 sticks of celery (cut into 4cm chunks) 

800g of chicken wings/thighs on bone/legs (or there abouts) 

1 clove of garlic (slightly crushed) 

500ml of good chicken stock (cold) 

3 black peppercorns 

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

Fresh parsley to serve

Method

Place the chicken pieces onto a chopping board and give them a little bash with a rolling pin to slightly crack and break some of the bones and joints. Off the heat, put the chicken into a large pot, pour in the stock and fill the rest up with cold water (about 80% of the way up to make sure it doesn’t overflow when you later add the other ingredients). 

Put the pan on your lowest possible heat and bring to a very gentle simmer, uncovered.  After a couple of hours, you should have a scum on the surface. Carefully skim it off with a ladle or serving spoon and discard, trying not to waste too much broth.  Be gentle.. you don’t want to mix it all the back into the broth. If it's bubbling too fiercely, you'll also find it too mixed up to skim properly.

Repeat after another hour.  

Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, sea salt and peppercorns. Cover loosely with a lid and let it work its magic for 2 hours.

Remove the chicken and check to see if you need to skim a final time.

If you like chicken bits in your soup, shred some of the meat and return it to the pot to taste. Discard the rest. Let it simmer away with a lid on until you're ready to serve (up to another couple of hours). Taste and season to your liking. 

Serve with lokshen (cooked vermicelli pasta). 

TIPS

  • Cover the chicken wings with a layer or two of cling film before giving them a little bash... it saves the raw chicken touching the rolling pin.

  • Having a slotted spoon, skimmer or any kind of sieve spoon really makes the skimming easier. If you don’t have one, run your skimming spoon under really cold water before you start the process.

  • If you don’t have a lid for your biggest pot, carefully use some kitchen foil to cover.

  • Tastes even better the next day.