The second place chicken soup
Keep in mind I made enough for an army but you can always cut it in half or freeze.
2 bunch of scallions ( white part sliced thin)
6 shallots ( sliced )
4 large carrots ( sliced )
4 stalks celery ( cut into slices )
4 stalks lemon grass ( cut off the ends and then pound )
2 4 X 2 pieces of ginger
1 napa cabbage (thinly sliced)
4 small bok choys (thinly sliced)
4 bay leaves
4 dried chili peppers
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
18 cups chicken broth (swear)
2 whole chickens
In a huge stock pot, cover the bottom with vegetable oil and heat. Then add the scallions, ginger and shallots. Saute until soft. Add the carrots, celery and lemon grass. Saute until soft again. Add the bok choy and napa cabbage. Toss with the other mixture. Add both chickens. Add the liquids and sugar. Put the bay leaf and chili peppers in a cheese cloth. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the chicken is literally falling off the bone. 1 1/2 hours.
At this point, take out the chickens and let them come to a temperature where you can handle them. Shred the chicken meat. Put aside.
Take out all the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Strain the broth through a cheese cloth into another pot. At this point, I put this in the refrigerator. The chicken and vegetable in separate containers.
The next morning, I took the fat off the top and then warmed up the broth, added the veggies and chicken. You can easily serve the soup after shredding the chicken and putting it back in but this is a way to get rid of the fat that goes into the broth from the chicken.
Matzo Balls
I used the good old fashioned Manishevitz matzo ball mix. I followed the directions and added 2 Tbsp. grated ginger and cut chives. You put the mixture in the frig for a bit to get cold. I then made the balls, really tiny and tight. It is really important to get them tight or they come apart when cooking. I put the balls back in the refrigerator to get cold again. Then I put the balls in boiling salted water with a little chicken stock. Cook for about 10 minutes and then add to the hot soup and let them finish cooking in there.
What can I say, obviously a winner.
Comments (Archived):
Again if you sold it I would buy it. Currently, I buy my soup frozen at Barry’s Village Deli in Waban Square. My husband begs me NOT to make my own matzo balls as the outsides are too soft and the insides are like hard sea sponges. You have a knack. Believe me, there are women who actually bring their largest soup pans to Barry’s and Barry fills them up with his soup during the holidays. The women fib and tell their guests that they slaved for hours. Truly, you have a gift. My family would kill for meals like yours.
Hm, must give those recipes a try – they sound great! I’ve been meaning to make the banana biscotti you posted recently, but all the bananas get eaten before they’re really mushy-ripe.Off-topic: I use a Firefox add-on (Sage Reader) to subscribe to RSS feeds, and your blog has returned an error message for the past couple of days. Did anything change at your end, or is it a gremlin in my RSS reader? I will try unsubscribing and resubscribing, to see if that fixes it. But I thought I’d mention it, in case other readers had the same problem?PS: I just tried un- and then re-subscribing. I still get an error message.
Thanks for letting me know. I think we fixed it this morning.
Just tried it again, but I’m still getting “Error: XML Parse Error”… :-/(Maybe it’s something at my end, with Sage reader? Unlikely tho, since yours is currently the only blog – out of ~80 – that’s returning an error message…)
Ok. Let me look into it. Big thanks.
It’s working now!
Yes!
Keep me posted on the final product!
O.k. gotham gal this post inspired me. The cooked chickens were gone at Whole Foods last night and Barry’s was closed so I purchased a raw chicken and all the ingredients. so this mornimg i am preparing the soup. Just changing the matzoh balls to egg noodles since my matzoh balls are really terrible. Hope it comes out half as good but if yo ur soup was in the frozen food section there would have been no options for me. I’d buy it frozen
See..you can cook!joanne [email protected]
Fantastic!Husband loved the flavor. Not his mother’s chicken soup. Think it was the addition of the ginger that he liked. most.Perfect for a day like today Thank you.Thanks
I’ve got to say that I love chicken soup and this one looks incredible. I’m going to have to try out the recipe. Never made matzo balls before but I’ve often ordered it in restaurants and delis. I like the idea of the small matzo balls.