Asian Style Chicken Soup

Growing up, my mom would always make this soup whenever I was feeling under the weather— this is my version. Its tangy, savory, and delicious. I like using chicken breast for extra protein, and chicken drums or thighs with bone-in for extra flavor. Today, I boiled some pasta and add the noodles in, but its also amazing served over rice ! IF YOU TRY THIS, TAG MEEEE—- I LOVE SEEING YOUR FOODIE PHOTOS (:

What you’ll need:

Servings: 4-6

tsp- teaspoon

T- tablespoon

• 6 cups water

• 4 chicken breasts

• 6 drumsticks or thighs with bone-in

• 2 lemons (sliced in half)

• bunch of fresh celery

• 1 cup carrots (sliced) or use baby carrots like I did

• 1 T salt

• 1 T chicken bouillon powder

• 2 T fish sauce

• 6-8 smashed whole garlic cloves (with skin on- extra flavor)

• 1 tsp dried baby shrimp

• 1 onion (sliced in half) or 6 green onion stems (save the tops for garnish)

• 2 tsps ground ginger

• 1 T sugar or sweetener of choice

• black pepper

“Crack Sauce”: (optional)

• 1/2 cup fish sauce

• 1/2 cup lime juice

• 2 tsps sugar

• 1/4 cup chopped garlic

• chopped thai chilis

Instructions:

1. Start off by placing all chicken, vegetables, and seasonings to a large pot and fill with water— bring to a rolling boil.

2. Be sure to skim off all the scum that raises to the top and discard

3. Once soup comes to a rolling boil and chicken starts to raise to the top, lower heat to medium and discard celery and any large pieces of garlic.

4. Continue to let soup simmer for all the flavors to release and for chicken to get tender— carefully remove chicken breast and shred with two forks .

5. Add shredded chicken back in, and let simmer on medium-low heat for at least 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Taste soup and adjust seasonings here— (add more salt, etc. if needed)

6. Prep “crack sauce”— combine fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chopped garlic, and chopped thai chilis— set aside.

7. If using pasta noodles, (boil noodles separately and then place into soup for the last 10 minutes). If not, enjoy soup over a bed of rice.

8. To enjoy, ladle soup over rice in a bowl and add a tsp of crack sauce on top (adjust to your liking)— garnish with chopped green onions and black pepper !

   *You can also add sriracha, pepper saute of choice, and hoisin if you’d like.