Almost Thai chicken soup
Living in California, I occasionally peruse Sunset Magazine. A recent issue featured different kinds of chicken soups one of which I modified based on what I could find at the market in the middle of winter.
Making the preparation very quick and easy was having on hand some frozen previously cooked brown rice and frozen leftover chicken. With just a little slicing, mincing, and chopping, the soup was done and delicious.
While there is a little added salt to the whole recipe, the other flavors predominate, unlike some commercial chicken soups.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1" piece of fresh ginger, minced (I stopped bothering to peel it long ago and it doesn't matter)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying
- 2/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, julienned
- 1 1/2 inches jalapeno, halved and thinly sliced
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions
- Add the broth, chicken, rice, and ginger to a soup pot.
- Bring to a boil then simmer for about fifteen minutes. Near the end of this time, add the jalapeños.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a small saute pan. Fry the garlic slices stirring frequently until they are golden brown then remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towel. This was very liberating as most other recipes castigate you if the garlic turns color at all.
- Fry the shallot slices and drain on paper towel.
- Season the soup with pepper to taste.
- Top each bowl of soup with basil and cilantro and stir in.
This is a wonderful departure from the chicken soup of my past.
Nutrition information (per serving)
- Calories: 252
- Total fat: 16 mg
- Saturated fat: 2 mg
- Trans fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
- Sodium: 337 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 13 mg
- Dietary fiber: 1 mg
- Total sugars: 1 mg
- Protein: 14 mg