Chinese Chicken Soup
Chinese Chicken Soup: fast, simple, easy, delicious! It is one of the most satisfying soups I have ever made. It is great on its own or paired with any style of noodle, a vegetable such as bok choy, and a fried egg. Sichuan Chinese peppercorns add a mouth numbing sweet citrus heat, but if you want to really spice it up, I suggest adding Chiu Chow Style Chinese chili oil.
Servings: 6
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or large pot
- Tea infuser or other spice holder for soup.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken substitution: whole chicken cut up
- 12 cups water
- 2 cups Shaoxing cooking wine
- ½ cup dried Shiitake mushrooms, about 8
- 2-3 oz sliced ginger root
- 1 tbsp Sichuan Chinese peppercorn
- 6-8 spring onions, whole
Instructions
- Wash the chicken and remove the skin.
- Wash spring onions. No need to trim.
- Slice ginger root into large pieces.
- Place peppercorn into the tea infuser/spice holder.
- Place chicken in a large cooking vessel such as a Dutch Oven.
- Add water to just cover the chicken.
- Add the Shaoxing cooking wine.
- Add the scallions, ginger root, shiitake mushrooms, and peppercorns.
- Over a medium heat, bring the soup to a boil, then turn down to a slow simmer. Cook for 2-3 hours until the chicken is tender and falls off the bone.
- Remove the tea infuser/spice holder.
- Optional: Remove the spring onions.
- Serving Options: Any style of noodle - Chinese, Japanese, Italian. Add some bok choy or Napa cabbage into the cooking pot and let that cook through with the soup. For extra protein and flavor, add firm tofu or a fried egg. Chinese style sweet pickles and chili oil are excellent accompaniments.
Notes
Removing the skin will make a broth that is void of fat.
If you don't want to remove the skin first, another way to remove fat is to allow the finished soup to cool and then chill at least 8 hours in the fridge or until the fat congeals and solidifies on the surface. Remove the fat with a slotted spoon and discard.
There is no need to hydrate the dried shiitake mushrooms as they will plump up while cooking in the soup. They have a strong flavor and meaty texture. When adding to any soup or dish, too many can overpower the other flavors. Start with a conservative amount and then with experience you can add more or less to your liking.
How to pronounce Shaoxing. the letters "ao" sound like the "ow!" in "ouch!" X
ing sounds like "shing".
ing sounds like "shing".