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We all live somewhere that’s either colder, really cold, or very wet this time of year. And with that (mostly welcome by me) weather often comes the less welcome part — colds, flus, and all the rest.
When that happens and someone in the family gets sick, we all have our go-to soups or comfort dishes that may not cure, but always seem to help our loved ones feel a little better.
Below are a couple of our home-grown recipes for this season of sniffles and sore throats — favorites from both Therese and me (Rindraty). We thought we’d do a quick share. Why not?
Therese’s Chicken Soup
Flu season has hit early in the Howe household: Connor, who rarely gets sick, called out from work so I know he doesn’t feel good. When that happens, I break out my go-to recipe for my version chicken soup that’s heavy on the medicinal aromatics: ginger, onions and garlic. You can increase the amount of these ingredients to suit your taste, but if you’re making this soup to help you feel better, you wanna go up rather than down.
I like to use thighs because that’s my preferred part of the chicken, but you can substitute them with your favorite dark meat (drumsticks or wings). I don’t use breast meat for this soup because you want the richer, heartier mouthfeel you get from the fattier dark meat. Having said that, you do you!
Chicken Soup with Baby Bok Choy
Ingredients
4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
1 quart chicken stock
½ medium onion, chopped
2 tbs garlic, diced
1 pinkie length of ginger, sliced into strips
5 heads of baby bok choy, ends trimmed and leaves washed well
Salt and pepper to taste - start with ¼ tsp of each and add as needed
1.5 tbs olive oil
Instructions
In a large pot, saute half of the chopped onions and all of the garlic to release the flavors. Once translucent, add half of the garlic and stir until the oils are released - don’t let either get brown. Add chicken thighs, skin side down. Let it brown, then turn over to brown. Add salt and pepper.
Add the chicken stock, the rest of the onions, and the rest of the garlic to the pot. Boil on low simmer until chicken is cooked, about 25-30 minutes. At the 15-minute mark, though, take a spoon and taste the soup to see if you need to add more seasoning.
When the chicken is cooked, add the baby bok choy and turn off the heat. The soup will be ready to eat when the baby bok choy has softened, about 5-10 minutes.
Ri’s Chicken Kadu (Soup)
Kadu is soul food for the local soul. It is soup in CHamoru and can be chicken kadu, beef kadu, whatever kind of kadu. I make a version of Therese’s chicken soup that I love, with different vegetables and a slightly different process. But the other kadu I also make and love is a riff on Rosary Soup. It includes mung bean noodles or long rice. The mung bean noodles are thinner, and that’s what I know and love. They come in small packets of six and are packaged in pink netting. There’s always a package in my pantry. I’ve been making this forever, served to my kids as babies and served to close friends for comfort. This version makes so much that there are almost always leftovers for the next day.
Note: I’m using chicken thighs here, but I normally use a whole chicken that I cut up. Many folks don’t do that anymore, so I’m using bone-in chicken thighs. I prefer the whole chicken, but whatever makes you happy.
Ingredients
2 pounds chicken thighs with bone
1 large onion, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1 regular-sized can whole tomatoes – squished or 1 can diced tomatoes
8 cups combination of chicken stock (the stock from boiling the thighs) and water
1 tablespoon canola oil
frozen mixed vegetables – small bag
1 or 2 packages of cellophane noodles – depending on how much noodles you want (photos of different noodles below)
Salt and Pepper
1. Boil the chicken thighs in enough water to cover. Make sure you skim the scum from the top of the pot. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the thighs from the stock and let them cool. Strain the stock into a bowl. Peel chicken off bones and shred. Discard bones.
2. In the now-empty pot, return stock and add onions, celery, tomatoes, and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add the bag of frozen vegetables and noodles. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
****Skimming scum. While your chicken is heating to a boil, don’t stir the chicken. If you do, it allows the scum to sink. Just keep skimming. Once the scum is gone, you can stir as needed.
Have a family recipe that always brings comfort when someone’s under the weather? We’d love to hear it — reply to this email or tag us on social with your favorite healing dish.
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