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Even Mom Would Approve Of This Soup

Bev Bennett Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Remember your Mom’s chicken soup?

This isn’t it.

Mom probably made her broth from scratch using a fine old bird. She probably added a couple of carrots to make the broth sweeter and maybe an onion, with its magical healing powers. She probably hovered over it for hours.

As good as it was, it’s almost impossible to duplicate. Today’s broiler-fryer chickens aren’t soup birds. Even if you’re prepared to spend half the day at the stove, you’ll still have a pretty anemic broth.

Fortunately, and conveniently, you’ll find a great selection of canned chicken broth in supermarkets. Choose the brand you prefer, add your own touches and make a meal that’s delicious and restorative.

The following recipe takes ingredients from Thai and Chinese cooking as well as traditional soups. The combination of ginger root and jalapeno chili makes it a sinus-clearing marvel. The lime juice and soy sauce give it an extra-tangy flavor. Chicken breast meat makes it more substantial. And a side dish of rice makes it more mellow.

And the carrot? That’s Mom.

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

1 small new potato

3 cups chicken broth

3 (1/4-inch-thick) slices ginger root

1 carrot, pared and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 jalapeno chili, cored, seeded and minced

1 small lime, grated and juiced

1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 cup minced green onions

Freshly ground white pepper

Boil potato in water to cover in 2-quart pan until tender, about 30 minutes. Peel and dice. Set aside.

In same pan, combine chicken broth, ginger root, carrot, celery and jalapeno chili. Grate rind of lime and add to soup. Simmer until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add chicken to soup along with potato, lime juice, soy sauce and green onions. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes for flavors to blend and chicken to cook through. Season to taste with pepper. Discard ginger. Serve hot.

Yield: 2 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 226 calories, 5.7 grams fat (23 percent fat calories), 24 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrate, 24 milligrams cholesterol, 2,333 milligrams sodium.

Rice

1/2 cup long-grain rice

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon salt, optional

1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onion tops

Combine rice and broth in small pan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until rice is tender and broth absorbed, about 18 minutes. Taste and salt if necessary.

Fluff up rice. Spoon half into each of 2 small serving bowls. Sprinkle each with green onions.

Yield: 2 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 207 calories, 2.54 grams fat (11 percent fat calories), 9 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrate, 1 milligram cholesterol, 1,004 milligrams sodium.