- 1
Begin by preparing all ingredients and cutting all onions, carrots, and celery into small pieces to be uniform in size, ensuring uniform cooking. Crush the garlic and ginger for flavour release.
- 2
Put 1 litre of water in a large pot.
- 3
Add the chicken with bones, 500 gms of it, to the pot. This will make for an excellent, rich broth flavour.
- 4
Add some chopped onion, carrots and celery into the pot.
- 5
Then, stir the garlic, ginger, and bay leaf in there. The bay leaf will be what leaves you with a hint of aroma.
- 6
Boil up that temperature and get it to a boil. You will see tiny bubbles forming and steam rising; that's the beginning of your delicious chicken broth
- 7
Bring this to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer. At this gentle simmer, the flavours from the chicken and vegetables gradually melt out. Simmer it for 45-60 minutes. You may notice a foam rising to the top during that time.
- 8
Skim this off now and again with your spoon; the broth should end clear.
- 9
Strain the soup. When it has finished simmering, it is time to strain the soup.
- 10
Start by setting up a fine-mesh sieve over a clean pot.
- 11
Carefully pour broth through the sieve, allowing liquid to pass while discarding solids. This is the point at which chicken can be removed and meat shredded and added to the soup later if desired.
- 12
Strain the broth using a strainer over a clean pot and add salt and black pepper to taste. Use very little, as you would be going for the flavour, not the covering substance. If you end up putting in too much, then you're out of luck.
- 13
Put one tablespoon of oil in a pan.
- 14
Fry over medium heat, and add the finely chopped mixed vegetables. Stir and saut for 2 to 3 minutes until tender and soft. This step heightens the flavour and adds a captivating texture to your soup.
- 15
After the vegetables were saut ed, put them into the strained chicken broth.
- 16
Let the soup simmer for another 5-7 minutes. The short period of cooking would only introduce the flavours within the broth into the vegetables without losing their crispiness.
- 17
Simmer and taste again. Add salt or pepper if you feel there is a need for seasoning. Now's your chance to get it right in terms of taste.
- 18
When you are satisfied that the flavour is to your liking, turn off the heat. Ladle hot chicken soup into bowls, and top each serving with freshly chopped coriander leaves. It provides an explosion of freshness, cutting into savoury broth perfectly. Enjoy this recipe of chicken soup!