Peruvian Chicken Soup

[wendelah1]

I could have sworn I'd posted this here but I looked through the tags and it was nowhere to be found.

When I was working full-time, I made this once a week. My family still loves it. The hardest step is cutting the chicken off of the bone. When I was feeling extra lazy, I'd just serve the chicken in quarters in large pasta bowls with a spoon, knife and fork, and let my family deal with it. If you have small children, it's better to take care of the bones yourself, of course.

You should use the smallest chicken you can find, otherwise you end up with a very thick soup. Alternatively, you can add extra water, extra rice etc. I've made it with parts, but the whole chicken gives better flavor. I've left out the celery. Don't do it, the celery makes a big difference. I have greatly increased the amount of vegetables called for in the original recipe. If you wish to use fresh veggies, go for it. I'm lazy. Frozen tastes just fine in this soup. I also cut the salt way back and use brown rice instead of white.

The original recipe is from El Pollo Inka in Los Angeles.

PERUVIAN CHICKEN SOUP (Aguadito de Pollo) (UNDER AN HOUR)

1 (2 1/2-pound) chicken, quartered

2 red potatoes, peeled and each cut into 6 pieces

6 tablespoons brown rice, rinsed and drained

1 stalk celery

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tsp. salt

8 1/2 cups water

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (diced carrots, cut green beans, whole corn kernels)

1/2 bunch cilantro

Pepper to taste

Lime juice, optional

Bring chicken, potatoes, rice, celery, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 8 cups water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Add frozen mixed vegetables.

Process cilantro and remaining 1/2 cup water in blender. Stir into soup mixture. If you don't have a food processor or blender, just chop it up as fine as you can.

Remove soup from heat. Remove chicken and celery stalk. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Discard skin, bones and celery stalk.

Return chicken meat to soup. Bring soup to simmer over medium heat and cook 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 teaspoons salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with lime juice to taste just before serving if desired.

8 to 10 servings. Each of 8 servings:

This is very inaccurate given the changes I've made, especially the sodium and carbs: 188 calories; 949 mg sodium; 54 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams protein; 0.38 gram fiber.

Comments

[pennyplainknits]

I'm one of those people that doesn't like coriander (cilantro)- would you suggest subbing a different herb or just leaving it out?

[wendelah1]

Truthfully, if you don't like cilantro, I'd make a different chicken soup. Because of the short cooking time, you won't have a rich chicken stock to flavor the soup. I think this recipe needs the cilantro, otherwise it would be too bland. I suppose you could try cooking the chicken in broth or stock instead of plain water. That would make for a more flavorful soup. Using finely diced carrots, onions (or leeks or shallots) and celery cooked slowly in butter or olive oil as the base would add a layer of flavor, but that will also add time and effort. A little thyme goes nicely with chicken. A little parsley?

But if you do some experimenting, you might be able to come up with something. I have a soup book around somewhere that might be helpful. I'll look for it and look through it.

[pennyplainknits]

I thought that might be the case! I'll stick with my usual chicken soup recipe then!

[st_aurafina]

I'm good with cilantro, fortunately, and this is an awesome recipe. Thank you for posting it.

[wendelah1]

This chicken soup recipe was life-changing. I'd never made chicken soup unless I had a half a day to do it in and a half dozen chicken backs for the homemade stock I had to make first.

If I get bored with it before it's gone, I dump in a little salsa and shredded cheese and broken tortilla chips. Yum.

[labellementeuse]

Oh gosh this is good. I cooked it a little longer to get a more flavourful broth but it was still fabulously low-key and deeeeeelicious. Perfect winter food (which it is here). Thanks for posting this inspiring recipe!