Global warming

Chicken soup for the soul from around the world, writes Dan Stock

For Koreans it’s juk, a chicken-flavoured congee-like porridge. For Greeks it’s the lemony avgolemono, while Filipinos swear by arroz caldo. Student share houses are fuelled by the 2 Minute variety, and many a miraculous recovery from a nasty cold or flu will be attributed to nothing other than a bowl of Jewish penicillin.

It is, of course, chicken soup — the failsafe cure that knows no boundaries.

So simple and humble yet with cold-busting properties that border on the mystical, in these uncertain times when there seems little you can count on, chicken soup delivers more than just soul food with a spoon.

It’s safety, security, an act of generosity with the feel-good factor turned up to 11.

Here are some brilliant bowls from around the globe that go beyond the simple chicken and broth to deliver cuddles of comfort both delicious and nutritious.

VIETNAMESE

“When I was young, sharing a bowl of pho was always a big family affair. My mum only ever made pho once a month or so, when we asked nicely,” says Jerry Mai from Pho Nom. “It traditionally takes two days to prepare so she would make a lot of it. By the time it was ready, word would have spread to our family and friends and they’d come around and enjoy it with us. Eating pho should feel like being hugged from deep down inside.”

The pho ga — chicken pho — that Mai makes is based on a southern Vietnamese recipe that’s richer than itss northern Vietnamese counterpart.

“Aussies are used to this style of pho becausee the majority of Vietnamese refugees in Australia have come from southern Vietnam,” she says.

To make pho ga, boil 5kg chicken bones in 10 litres of water and bring to a gentle boil for 5-6 hours, skimming regularly. Try not to boil it vigorously as the stock will go cloudy. About 3 hours in, toast a blend of black cardamom, star anise, cassia bark, coriander seeds and cloves, and roast some ginger, garlic and onions over a flame to caramelise them. Add these aromats into in the stock. Poach the chicken meat that will be served in the broth at the end for 10-15mins in the stock, and set aside before straining the stock and seasoning with sugar and fish sauce. To serve, blanch fresh pho noodles and top with torn poached chicken meat. Add the broth and garnish with spring onion, coriander and thinly sliced brown onion and serve with bean shoots, fresh herbs, chilli, hoi sin sauce and lemon wedges.

FRENCH

“I have a love of all chicken things and I think what you want to eat on a cold weekend is cream of chicken soup,” says Annie

Smithers. “There’s something so incredibly nourishing and comforting about this soup.”

During the cold months the chef will often put this soup on her daily changing French farmhouse menu at Du Fermier in Trentham, Victoria — and if you’re in luck it might also come with a shaving of fresh truffles on top.

For Smithers, the velvety texture of the soup is key — “if it gets too thin it loses its magic” — but it’s an otherwise simple enough soup to master.

“The simplicity of the flavours, of chicken and leek, for me is just the best.”

ANNIE SMITHERS’ CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP

serves / 8

ingredients

1 No.16 size chicken 1 onion, chopped 2 carrots, chopped into 2cm cubes 3 celery stalks, chopped into 2cm cubes 2 litre chicken stock (reserved from poaching the chicken) 75g plain flour 75g butter 2 leeks, sliced, washed and cooked in an extra 75g butter Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1_ I like to poach a whole chicken first, and then thicken the poaching stock to make the soup.

2_ Rinse chicken under cold running water, and let it drain for about five minutes.

3_ In a large pot cover chicken with cold water and bring to the boil. Skim. Add chopped veg, along with a tablespoon of whole peppercorns; a clove of garlic (peeled and crushed) or two; a bay leaf and some fresh herbs. Add 1 tbsp salt, bring it to the boil then lower to a simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for about an hour. Once

SINGAPOREAN

chicken is cooked through, turn off heat, remove the chicken and transfer to a large bowl to cool for about 20 minutes. Save the broth.

4_ When the chicken is cool enough to handle, you can pull off all the meat, using a fork to remove the trickier bits. Refrigerate.

5_ For the soup, place a heavybased pot over a medium heat and bring the temperature of the pot up a little. Melt the butter, then add the flour. Stir constantly and cook it under medium-low heat until flour starts to turn brown and smell nutty.

6_ Add broth a little at a time, similar to making a roux, while stirring constantly. Keep adding the broth and stirring to prevent any lumps.

7_ Once all the broth has been added, turn up the heat, still stirring to prevent burning, and bring it to a boil. If it is too thick add a little more water or broth to thin it.

8_ Turn off heat and remove from stove. Season with salt to taste.

9_ To serve, warm the shredded chicken with the cooked leek, pile in the middle of a soup bowl and pour the soup around. Garnish with croutons. Singapore-born, Melbournebased chef Alicia Cheong is flat out tending the barbecue at new CBD hot spot Heroes, but whenever she’s feeling a bit homesick she turns to her mum’s herbal chicken soup. “My mum’s not a good cook but she does a few things right and this is one of them. She makes this for me whenever I am sick or exhausted from long hours in the kitchen. Asian parents believe that a bowl of hot soup can cure anything and everything,” she says.

ALICIA CHEONG’S MUM’S HERBAL CHICKEN SOUP Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut up into parts 20g dried red dates 20g dried goji berries 50g garlic cloves with skin on 30g ginger

Optional Chinese herbs:

Dried angelica roots Dried ginseng root Dried Chinese yam (available at traditional Chinese medicine shops, such as Tong Ren Tang in Chinatown)

Method

1_ First blanch the chicken in boiling water.

2_ Then you just pop everything in a pot with just enough water to cover the ingredients. Boil and simmer for a minimum of one hour. My mum leaves it on a really small fire for at least three hours while she plays Mahjong with her friends.

3_ Garnish with sliced spring onions and coriander.