Saturday, February 14, 2009

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cooking Chicken Soup

By KC Kudra

Many people rely on packet soups and canned soups when they want something soothing and tasty, unaware that nothing beats homemade soup for flavor. Soup recipes are very easy to make because there is not a lot to remember to do. If you can boil a pot of water and add things to it, you can make yourself some soup. Soup is an incredibly versatile dish and you can add whichever ingredients you like to make your perfect soup recipe.

Different Types of Soup

There are many types of soup and way too many to list here. You can get chilled soups and hot soups, thick chowder type soups and thin, watery consomms, fish soup, meat soup and vegetable soup, spicy oriental soup, country style soup and so much more. You have probably tried quite a few different types of soup, such as tomato or chicken noodle soup but what about Chinese egg drop soup or a chilled watermelon soup?

One of the most popular soups has to be chicken soup and most nations have their own version. Chicken is economical to buy and if you have eaten a chicken in some other recipe, you can make a tasty chicken bouillon from the bones and carcass. Chicken soup comes in many varieties. Examples include chicken noodle soup, cream of chicken soup, Chinese chicken soup, chicken rice soup and many more.

Maybe one of the reasons that chicken soup is so well loved is that you can do a lot of different things with it and use different flavors and textures. Some people like to add noodles or potatoes; others like to have plenty of vegetable pieces. Some people prefer a thin chicken consomm and others like a smooth and creamy soup.

How to Make Chicken Soup

One of the easiest ways to make a delicious chicken soup recipe is to cover a chicken carcass in water, bring it to the boil, remove the carcass, add herbs and vegetables, and simmer it for an hour. If you are using a chicken carcass and vegetables, which are leftover, you can make a really tasty soup out of ingredients, which would otherwise have been thrown in the trash without a thought. Because of this, the chicken soup will have cost absolutely nothing to make.

When you take out the carcass, it is best to use a sieve to make sure you remove any tiny bone fragments. You can pick bits of meat or fat off the carcass and add them to the soup for flavor.

Chicken noodle soup is thought to be beneficial for colds and the flu and whereas this applies to most soups because fluids and steam both help with congestion, sore throats and other symptoms, there is definitely something extra soothing about chicken noodle soup. It just seems to have a magical ability to make you feel better and lift your mood.

Perhaps you remember being given homemade chicken soup as a child. Now you know how simple it is to make your own soup, perhaps you would like to have a go at making some soothing, satisfying chicken soup for your own family.

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