Today The Hubby and I are down with fever. Though his broke yesterday night, mine continued. The worse part about my fever is that the temperature will shoot suddenly, and then I’ll automatically pop two Panadol Extra and five minutes later, I’m A-O-K. It’s some sort of crazy virus that refuses to leave my body.
Anyway, since both our throats hurt a lot, I though I’d make herbal chicken soup. I don’t particularly like chicken soup, especially the Malay-style version where they add in ‘rempah sop’ – powdered spices for soup, usually to make soto ayam. But I do like Chinese herbal soups. When the mood strikes. Like today.
So anyway, it’s dead easy to make this soup because the ingredients are packaged at the supermarket. All you have to do is buy and clean a chicken, dump it into a pot with water, pour all the ‘magic’ ingredients into the pot and simmer over a low fire for two hours minimum. I will only eat the dish when the meat has completely disintegrated from the bones and that they are super tender. But don’t forget the salt, or your soup will just taste of plain water (an often enough mishap each time I make soup).
If you’re not Chinese and never made or had Herbal Chicken Soup, go try making one, especially when your throat feels as though a hundred thumbtacks are jammed inside. A few years ago, I even made a pot and slow cooked it on my stove for five hours. A great waste of resources but completely worth it. 🙂
The Occasional Cook 