Recipe: Spicy Chicken Soup For When You're Ill

For the most part, my husband and I are pretty healthy folks.  However, like everyone else, we sometimes do get sick, and when we do it is almost always sinus/upper respiratory issues.  In my case, this is because I'm allergic to everything between the earth and sky.  Only one of these allergies is a bona fide food allergy (peanuts), although I avoid bleu cheese just to be safe, but since I've been allergic to everything since I was very small (just like my dad, and his mom, and her mom before her) I've learned to manage it pretty well.  One of the ways that we manage is by eating this soup whenever one of us starts to get sick.  Don't get me wrong.  It's not some kind of Ancient Family Remedy passed down from generation to generation of sniffling cooks.  It's just something I tried once (out of desperation) that happened to work, and it does taste good. 

It works partly by being, ultimately, a kind of chicken soup and partly by burning through whatever ails you with thousands of Scoville units.  There's nothing better for sinus trouble than scorching them out until they cry "uncle!"  Personally, I try to make this as hot as I can without sacrificing flavor.  This means that I use the hottest chilies I can find and the hottest curry paste I have yet found.  (Incidentally, if you have a hotter recommendation, I'd love to hear about it.  Spring is the worst time for me...)  If you're sensitive to excessive spice, you can modify this recipe to use milder chilies and a milder curry paste.  I've made it in a pinch with a mild Indian curry paste and it still came out decently.  I've used shrimp in place of the chicken and that worked well.  Vegetarians can substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth and something else for the chicken; I haven't tried tofu but I can't see why it wouldn't work.  You could also skip the meat substitute and use some kind of good, sturdy vegetable like rutabaga or turnip.  I haven't tried that either, but I'd expect it would at least be okay.  I don't seed the chilies, but you can if you want.  You can also use fresh ingredients for all of the powdered or jarred ingredients I've listed; I use the preserved stuff because it's readily available and when I'm sick I rarely feel like spending much time in the supermarket. 

Spicy Chicken Soup(serves 4 as the main course; approx. cost per serving not available)

2 tablespoons lemon peel, divided

2 cans light coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

3 - 4 tablespoons minced jarred ginger

2 tablespoons powdered lemongrass

2 green chilies, halved (serrano if you like heat, jalapeno or poblano if you don't)

2 red or orange chilies, halved (I like habanero; otherwise you can use just about any other appropriate pepper, or double up on the milder green chilies if you need to)

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes.

1 14 oz can of mushrooms

1 can of sliced bamboo shoots

1/4 cup fish sauce (I prefer Vietnamese; use Thai for a less pungent option)

Lime juice to taste

Fresh torn cilantro leaves, to garnish

Equipment

• One medium pan
• One large pan
• One strainer/sieve

1. Take 1/2 of the lemon peel (that's 1 tablespoon), the broth, the coconut milk, the ginger, the lemongrass and the chilies and bring them to a boil in the medium pot. 
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Strain the mixture into the large pan.  Press and discard the solids. 
4. Bring the strained stock to a boil, then reduce heat to medium so that it boils gently.
5. Add the remaining lemon peel, the curry paste, the chicken, the mushrooms, the bamboo shoots and the fish sauce.
6. Boil gently until the chicken is cooked through.  This will directly correspond to the size you cut the chicken; it should be between 3 and 9 minutes.
7. Pour the soup into the serving bowl.  Add lime juice to taste to brighten up the flavors.  Garnish with some torn cilantro and serve. 

Technorati Tags: recipes,chilies,coconut milk,soup,chicken,lemongrass

Comments

[Christie @ fig&cherry]

This sounds delicious! I've just featured a homemade stock recipe on my blog which would be perfect for this recipe - I've linked to you too!

[Michelle]

This soup looks great. Love the idea of adding coconut milk. Just one thing though, I think you should rename the recipe. Here in the UK I learnt that sick also means vomit. So uhm, yeah. Anyway, I'll still eat your Sick Soup!

[Fearless Kitchen]

Michelle,

Thanks for pointing that out. That wouldn't have been the result I was going for - especially not with the use of habaneros. I have changed the published name of the recipe to something a little more palatable :)

[Fearless Kitchen]

Christie,

Thanks for your comment. Homemade stock would definitely be best, and yours definitely looked like it would work well here. I threw together a stock from the leftover carcass of the duck from the Duck with Pomegranate and Walnut Sauce recipe the other day, but it wasn't ready in time.

[Michelle]

Hmmm, sounds much better! :-)