Jewish chicken soup

For those feeling low with the cold virus at the moment here’s an original jewish chicken soup recipe. I did my own yesterday, boiling a free range chicken carcass, adding 12 cloves of garlic, one onion, celery, carrots, ginger and bit of potato – it was fantastic. The original versions of chicken soup do have antibiotic like qualities which is why its a staple for most families when they are sick. The recipes are often handed down from generation to generation and vary with each family. You really can’t go wrong with your own version though – using any vegetables you have to hand, some garlic etc will work too.

Jewish chicken soup
Ingredients
serves 6 to 8
1 large chicken, about 3 pounds, with giblets
1 large onion, stuck with 2 cloves
2 carrots, sliced
1 bunch (about 8 ounces) fresh parsley
2 large white turnips, quartered
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

method
1. Scald the chicken by pouring boiling water over it inside and out. Put the chicken into a stew pot or Dutch oven. Add water to cover and place pot over high heat. Bring the water to a boil, skimming off the foam as it accumulates. When the water boils, reduce the heat and add the vegetables. Cover the pot and simmer for 3 hours over very low heat.

2. Remove the chicken from the pot and serve it separately or cut it into serving pieces and add it to soup just before serving.

3. Strain the soup, discarding the vegetables. Wipe the surface with a paper towel to soak up excess fat. Or, better still, cool the soup, refrigerate it, and remove the fat which will have solidified on top; then reheat soup.

4. Taste soup, and add the seasonings before serving

previous post: Sophie Dahl and James Wong

next post: Tesco in Meads