Asian Chicken Soup

Asian chicken soup made with ginger, cilantro, fresh lime juice, and rice noodles.

Well, did you learn how to roast a whole chicken this weekend? I smiled and sipped wine on Friday night, thinking that you would be prepping to roast a chicken this weekend. Is that creepy? I just want to be in your kitchens with you, that’s all!

I was hoping you roasted a chicken using my recipe, dusted off your cast iron skillet to make my carrot-beet fritters, and that you now have leftover chicken in your fridge. And here I am.

My Dad has been teasing me for years about my love for chicken noodle soup. It’s basically all I ate as a kid. The canned stuff, the homemade kind (my Mom’s has turnips!), at restaurants, anywhere I could get it.

I once even stayed home from school with the chicken pox, and though my brother and I played all day long together, the minute Mom got home, I was suddenly on death’s door. My brother tattled on me–confessing I’d just been jumping and laughing on the couch moments before Mom walked through the door. But, Mom made me a bowl of chicken noodle soup anyway. I have vague memories of pouring milk into it for some reason or other.

Asian chicken soup:

I eat a lot of chicken noodle soup, still. The year of my life that I suddenly became completely engrossed in food and cooking absolutely everything I ate from scratch, I subscribed to Fine Cooking magazine. Still, one of my favorites. I made a recipe for Asian Chicken Soup off the back cover. The broth was infused with ginger, soy sauce, scallions, and cilantro. The first bite was unforgettable. It’s as if I didn’t think chicken soup could get better, and then it did.

The ‘Asian’ parts of this soup include soy sauce, ginger, cilantro, scallions, lime juice, and rice noodles. If you want to take it over the top, a drizzle of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds is fantastic. But mostly, I like to let the lime flavor shine through and slurp up the rice noodles.

How to serve chicken soup for baby-led weaning:

Camille is eating what we eat for dinner now, and the night I made this soup, I was at a bit of a loss on how to feed it to her. She insists on feeding herself these days. So, I pulled a tangle of rice noodles out of the soup, and chopped them into bite-sized pieces for her. I pulled out the shredded chicken, and I made a pile out of the wilted spinach leaves. She slurped every single noodle, she gummed every bite of chicken, and she diligently moved every piece of spinach to her sweet little mouth. I still felt that she was missing out on something–and also since the soup was made with bone broth, I wanted her to try it. I gave her a few spoonfuls of my broth. She begged for more, so I put it in a little glass for her to sip. Deconstructed chicken soup for baby? (The brown things on the plate are chopped dates for dessert).

Speaking of feeding baby, I have a baby food ebook here!

This recipe makes 4 big bowls of soup. I can clear 2 for dinner, or save 1 for lunch the next day.

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Yield: 2 servings

Asian Chicken Soup

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This Asian inspired chicken soup will warm you from the inside out.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 leftover roasted chicken carcass
• 5 scallions, divided
• 2 peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2" fresh ginger, sliced
• 10-20 sprigs of cilantro, plus extra for serving
• 1 8-ounce package rice noodles (labeled pad thai noodles)
• 2 cups leftover shredded chicken
• 2-3 handfuls baby spinach
• 1 lime, juiced

Instructions

1. First, cover the leftover chicken carcass with cold water in a large stockpot.
2. Add 3 chopped scallions to the pot, the peppercorns, and 2 teaspoons of salt.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and continue to simmer for 2-3 hours, until nice and fragrant.
4. Strain the broth, discard all ingredients, and return the broth to the same pan.
5. Add the remaining scallions (sliced), soy, ginger and cilantro. Taste and add the last teaspoon of salt, if needed.
6. Bring the broth to a boil, and add the rice noodles and cook until done, about 8 minutes.
7. Stir in the shredded chicken, spinach and lime juice.
8. Remove the ginger and cilantro sprigs before ladling into bowls to serve.
9. Serve garnished with fresh cilantro.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

4
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 497Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 134mgSodium: 3711mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 6gSugar: 2gProtein: 51g

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