A zesty soup made with a few simple ingredients. Cilantro and white pepper compliment the chicken and the fragrance will fill the house.
This makes a great starter or a filling meal on a cold night.
Chef's notes
Like all of my recipes this is GLUTEN FREE. Check the ingredients of the stock if using store bought as it will often contain gluten. You can buy gluten free stocks at most supermarkets. If using your own stock then obviously it will need to have been made without gluten containing ingredients such as wheat or barley.
A nice addition is makrut lime leaves.
You can substitute the chicken for white flaky fish if you want to make a superb fish soup from this recipe. Substitute the chicken stock for fish or vegetable stock in this case.
Steps
1
Prepare the Mise en Place
Ingredients
1 large leek
1 large green capsicum
1/2 bunch of cilantro
3 cloves of garlic
6 spring onions
4 chicken breasts
Clean the leek, slice in half lengthwise and slice finely.
Cut the cheeks off the capsicum and chop them to a small dice.
Chop the cilantro stems and root finely. Set the leaves aside for use later as a garnish.
Clean and finely slice the garlic.
Chop the spring onions roughly using all of the white part as well as a little of the green foliage.
Chop the chicken breast meat into small pieces about an inch square or smaller.
2
Saute the ingredients
Ingredients
Prepared mirepoix from above stop
3 tablespoons grapeseed or light olive oil
Chopped chicken breast from above step
In a large heavy based saucepan place half of the oil. Bring the pan to low to medium heat.
Add the mirepoix and saute until just translucent with no signs of caramelisation. All you need to do is soften the vegetables without cooking them fully.
Remove the mirepoix and set aside.
Add the remaining oil and the chicken. Saute the chicken until it just turns white all over. Don't brown it.
3
Cooking and serving the soup.
Ingredients
1 litre of chicken stock
0.5 litres of water.
1 1/2 teaspoons of finely ground white pepper
2 tablespoons of arrowroot
Few small red chillis
Salt for seasoning
Place the sauted mirepoix and the chicken into a suitably sized heavy based saucepan.
Add the chicken stock, water and white pepper.
Bring to a boil then turn the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add a little water to the arrowroot in a cup and stir until it is well mixed. Two or three tablespoons of water should be enough. Add a little more if needed. It should form a thin watery paste when ready.
Add the arrowroot mixture a little at a time to thicken the soup to the desired consistency.
Season with salt to taste and add more pepper if required.
Once thickened serve into bowls and place a little fresh chopped chili and cilantro leaves in the centre as a garnish.
Serve whilst hot.
