Winter Warmers

It's been so cold lately and everyone has been down with a cold, sore throat or flu. I had a really bad sore throat last week and all I could swallow was food in a liquid form. Even then, it was still hurting like crazy but my tummy keeps grumbling and I still keep complaining of hungry. For me, soups can never fill you up unless there are something solid in it, like rice or pasta. But, with that kind of soups it's always thick and not the brothy ones that I was craving for.

Finally, I decided to make some homemade chicken soup, after all isn't chicken soup is best for curing colds? Somehow, chicken soups always remind me of the Chinese, they always make a nice clear and very tasty broth, whereas, we Malays will have our chicken soup more spicy and that's not what I'm looking for. With the Chinese Chicken Soup, ginger is the main ingredient and of course it has a lot of benefits for curing colds but again, it wasn't something I imagined in my mouth. I have nothing against ginger because I do love them, but I wasn't feeling for it.

So, I devised my own Chicken Soup, and after 2 tries and tested by dearest hubby and friends, I might just found My Chicken Soup recipe.

Ingredients:
One whole chicken bones
Chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 onions, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 pinches of thyme (fresh is always better than dried one, but dry ones is good enough)
Fresh boiling water, 4-5 cups
Barley, has to be cooked in water for 1-2hrs until it's soft
Savoy Cabbage, thinly sliced
Carrots, medium sliced
Mushroom, medium sliced

I include Barley for this recipe because as I have mentioned, I wanted the soup to be filling. Instead of using the ol' rice, barley is a great substitute and a great fibre at it too. I also wanted to make the soup a wholesome meal, hence the vege. I find that savoy cabbage is the best cabbage for soups because it's light and very flavoursome and you can't go wrong with carrots because they're ever so sweet and finally. mushroom for that meaty bite!

Firstly, saute the onions and garlic on low heat. I always find that seasoning the onions makes it sweeter, so sprinkle some salt and pepper on it while sauteing. Once, the onions are transluscent, add in the chicken bones and turn it around a couple of times, then cover the pot. This will cook the bones through and by covering, we retain the juices in the pot. Now, add the boiling water, carrots, season it and let it simmer. (At this time, I usually add a cube of Boullion or Maggi Chicken Stock- but you don't need to). Then, once the carrots looked slighly soft, add the mushroom, savoy cabbage and the chicken breast. The reason you add the chicken meat last is because you don't want to over cook it. You want the chicken meat to be tender and smooth, not hard and dry. Now, cover the pot and let it simmer under a low heat. Finally, once the chicken meat is cooked add in your cooked barley, cover again and simmer to the lowest heat for 20 minutes.

And tadaa! My only advise is to keep tasting the soup, with that you can only know whether it needs more seasoning- salt and pepper. I can't tell you how much salt I used exactly, because it's all in your pallete. It is what you need to discover yourself, if you love food enough you should be able to know if it needs more salt, pepper or even a dash of ajinamoto!