Ingredients

• 1 onion
  • Diced
• 4 sticks of celery
  • Chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
  • Crushed
• ~10cm knob of ginger
  • Chopped finely
• 1 – 2 chillis
  • Finely sliced
  • Optional
• 1 large potato
  • Cubed
• 3 – 5 carrots
  • Chopped
• 4 – 6 chicken thighs
  • Skinless, boneless
  • Whole
• 1L chicken stock
  • 5 cubes
• 1tsp onion salt
• 2 bay leaves
• ¼tsp white pepper
• ~1tsp Lemon juice
• ½tsp chilli flakes
  • Optional
• Sesame oil

Instructions

1. In a large pan, fry the onion, celery, garlic, ginger and chilli on a medium-high heat until golden and fragrant (~5m). Then add the carrot and potato and fry for a further 5m.
2. Add the chicken stock, salt, white pepper, and bay leaves to the pan and stir in. Add the chicken thighs to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20m.
3. Once the chicken is cooked through and tears easily, remove the chicken thighs from the pan and set aside for a moment. Add the lemon juice, chilli flakes, and sesame oil. Stir thoroughly and leave simmering whilst dealing with the chicken.
4. In a bowl using two forks, tear the chicken thighs into bitesize pieces. Once shredded, add the chicken back to the pot. Season to taste.

Serve in bowls with bread or croutons.

Advice

*As yet, there is no proof that this soup solves global warming. But there’s also no proof that it doesn’t solve global warming, so … Make thine own judgement.

This soup freezes quite well, but the potatoes and carrots become very soft on reheating.

Chicken breasts can be used instead of thighs, in which case only simmer for 15m. However, thighs are far more moist, so I recommend using them.

The chilli is the key to this soup being warming and healing. One can avoid the chilli if one is my mother, but I do recommend including both. Adding the chilli flakes whilst the chicken is being shredded gives time for the heat to mature. To reduce the potency, add the flakes later.