Chicken Soup the traditional starter to any Friday night Shabbat dinner. The "Jewish Penicillin"
Nearly every country and every culture has their version of chicken soup.
Traditionally, Jewish Chicken soup is an Eastern European dish,the Ashkenazi Jews,were often very poor,chicken farming was a way to provide food, eggs , income and a meal for Shabbat.
Every part of the chicken was used, to provide this meal.
Traditionally the old tougher birds (hens) past their best , were used for the chicken soup, the hen or part of the hen was simmered with a selection of root vegetables for hours, and served with home made lokshen, kreplach, or Kneydls (Matzo Balls) to fill everyone up. The Soup was not a starter but the meal.
Possibly everyone I know, remembers their mothers or grandmothers chicken soup. My mothers mother had what I perceived to be, a gigantic pot that simmered away sending golden aromas around her small apartment . Whereas my fathers mother loved making home made lokshen, and Kreplach and entrusted me to be her assistant as young as four years old.
HEALTH BENEFITS
Every Jewish mother and grandmother will tell you Chicken Soup is good for you.
It is a low fat food ( especially if you skim the fat off) and it is packed full of Iron, Niacin, Vitamin A, & Thiamine
The 12 th-century rabbi and physician Maimonides proclaimed the benefits of chicken soup to one's health.
In 2000, scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre in Omaha studied the effect of chicken soup on the inflammatory response in vitro. They found that some components of the chicken soup may have an anti-inflammatory effect that could lead to temporary ease from symptoms of illness.
Guide to making good chicken soup.
Chicken soup can be made with, the whole chicken, part of the chicken, chicken wings,chicken thighs, chicken giblets, However if you use stomachs or necks soak them well in cold water for at least 30 minutes, first as they tend to be very salty. If you use wings they tend to make the soup fattier because of the quantity of skin around them.Its better to use chicken on the bone for better flavor.
You can also use Turkey necks or Wings, though not actually chicken soup the odd turkey wing or neck adds to the soup flavour.
You can't rush Chicken Soup , it has to cook long and slow , at between 3 -5 hours to taste good anything less than 2 hours and it will taste like heated up water!!!
I like to cook my soup on a Thursday,let it cool place in the fridge , then skim off the fat before serving it Friday night.
You need a good sized pot with a tight fitting lid.
Don't be afraid to use a whole chicken there are many things you can do with the cooked chicken after you have made the soup.
Warning always use chicken that is 100 % defrosted
Always cook the chicken with the vegetables to ensure a good flavor
Finally everyone has their own chicken soup recipe, and everyone might love their mothers soup but then will take the recipe and adapt it , the recipe below is my grandmothers soup which has evolved over the years..
The Kitchen Guru's Chicken Soup serves 6
1 to 1.5 kilo of chicken on the bone (see above) washed in Cold water, remove any excess fat.
2 medium onions peeled cut into 8
4 carrots washed peeled and cut into largish chunks
3 celery stalks , washed and cut
1/2 inch fresh ginger not peeled but washed
2 cloves of garlic in the peel washed
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
1/4 kilo pumpkin or if in the UK Swede or in US Rutabaga In Israel use 1 Kohl rabi , and pumpkin ,
1 turnip if in season peeled cut in 1/4
2 zucchini washed & cut into chunks
2 red skinned potatoes (operational) washed and in chunks.
secret ingredient 1 tea spoon Marmite, dissolved in a tablespoon of boiling water you could use MSG free soup powder but that won't add the depth of flavor
1/2 tea spoon black pepper
1/2 tea spoon sea salt
1 bay leaf
Water
Place the washed chicken in the bottom of a large heavy bottomed pot , if you are using a whole chicken after cleaning it I put some onion, carrots and parsley inside the chickens cavity,
Add all the vegetables, in the pot around the chicken , add the garlic, ginger, salt pepper, marmite , bay leaf, cover the chicken and vegetables with cold water, bring to the boil , then reduce the heat and simmer on a very low light for 3-5 hours.
Take off the heat. Remove the ginger, and parsley at this stage, let the soup cool, then remove the fat that rises to the top. store in the fridge ,reheat and serve,
You can serve with some of the chicken shredded in it , or just as the broth and vegetables..but serve hot with either lokshen, kreplach, or Kneydls ,and a good size helping of love for all those who will eat possibly one of the most talked about soups ever.
You can use a crock pot but if you do you don't have the option to skim the soup before servings.
Chicken soup freezes well but take out the vegetables before freezing or the soup can develop a sour flavor.
I keep my vegetables in fairly large chunks not from being lazy but after years of trial and error I have discovered the taste is better this way ,
This chicken soup is not for the faint hearted ,if you like chicken soup that tastes as if it has never seen a chicken then this is not for you !
Enjoy your chicken soup...it nourishes every part of your being.
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