My secret weapon dish.
I’ve been watching the current season of Masterchef Australia every night before bed. Anyone else? It’s so good! In the first episode, the judges had all the contestants cook their ‘secret weapon’ dish. It’s a dish that they feel like they can nail and is a banger every time. It got me thinking, what would be my ‘secret weapon’?
My secret weapon dish is this chinese chicken soup. I think it was one of the first times Pete admitted that he realised I could cook (he’s a chef). That was back in the day, when I just started cooking for him and just in general. The other time he said that was when I made a whole baby snapper with braised white beans and green olives. My goodness, that dish was so good, no wonder he was so speechless! That’s the best feeling, by the way. When a chef is surprised and gobsmacked with your dish you made for them. It’s not often that they are taken back by food, given they’re surrounded by amazing recipes all the time.
This soup will warm and nourish you. What I love about it is that it’s a familiar chicken soup flavour, with notes of spice and a slight kick that takes this broth to the next level.
You end up creating a beautifully layered chicken stock, packed with flavour and a tiny kick of heat, whilst cooking the chicken through. The succulent and juicy chicken meat is shredded with a fork and placed back into the soup to enjoy. It’s an amazing and easy way to cook a whole chicken without drying it out, whilst using the nutrients and minerals from the chicken to create a delicious and nutritious chicken stock seasoned with so many goodies.
I like to batch this broth into single serving jars so I can pour one into a pot when I fancy it for dinner. Then, for one serving, I add 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp black vinegar (can do rice vinegar), 1 tsp soy sauce.
To prepare a bowl of soup using this broth and chicken meat, I add ramen noodles or rice noodles, the shredded chicken meat from making the broth, bok choy or other green veggies such as broccoli or spinach.
Garnish with chopped spring onions and chilli oil. Sometimes crispy fried onions, too.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, raw
2 litres of water
1 yellow onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 thumb size piece of ginger, sliced
2 stalks celery, halved
a few parsley springs, whole
a few spring onion stalks, whole, roots removed
1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
5 cloves
2 star anise
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 whole dried chillies, long red
2 bay leaves
heavy pinch of salt x 2
Add all ingredients to a large pot over medium heat. Make sure the chicken is fully submerged in water. Once it comes to a simmer, turn down the heat to low, put the lid on the pot and leave to cook for at least 4 hours. The longer the better! Some water may evaporate. You can add water back in to extend the broth further. Remove the chicken, break down and shred the meat with a fork. Strain the broth, discarding the aromatics. Enjoy straight away or keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Another way to make this if you have more time and you’re willing, is to heat the spices, onion, ginger and garlic with neutral oil before adding the whole chicken to sear on all sides. Searing the chicken will get a delicious golden crust on the skin, without cooking the meat all the way through. This deepens the flavour of the soup. Not necessary but delicious and recommended.
Either way you prepare it, the flavours will be vibrant and warming. I hope you make this on a day when it’s raining outside and you want to warm yourself from the inside out. Enjoy.
