THE RECIPE
CHICKEN:
Lightly brown four large chicken drumsticks in a deep pan with a little
vegetable or groundnut oil. Or use a whole chicken, or for speed chicken
breast, these won’t need browning.
MUSHROOMS:
Chop finely 150g or so of oyster or chestnut mushrooms and leave aside.
SPRING ONIONS:
Roughly chop 2 spring onions and leave aside.
GREENS:
Set aside a couple of handfuls of greens, such as kale or spinach.
STOCK:
Pour
Turn
lift
your
a litre of chicken stock over the chicken and bring to the boil.
the heat down so the mixture simmers. Leave for 25 minutes, then
out the chicken pieces and remove the flesh from the bones. Reduce
stock a little more if needs be.
TO ADD
(& adjust to your taste):
A knob of ginger grated, two chillies finely sliced, garlic clove
grated, a dash of fish sauce, season with pepper & salt. Stir. Add your
mushrooms, spring onion, greens & continue to cook for a couple of
minutes, then add the chicken to warm through, check seasoning, put in
a big bowl, add some herbs, coriander, basil, tarragon… find a seat and
EAT!
GENIUS:
Preferably use drumsticks, whole chicken or thighs rather than chicken
breasts. Bones from free-range birds are generally thicker and will give
a better flavour to the broth. But if you are in a rush, chicken breast
cooked in the stock will be fine. Don’t be tempted to simmer the broth
for much longer than 40 minutes. Chestnut mushrooms are cheaper than
oyster.
MORE:
You can add rice noodles or egg noodles, cook them in the stock after
you have removed your chicken and before you add your veg. Say around
125g for two minutes. Choose Bok Choi or Sugar Snap peas for some
crunch.