Phil Vickery's Thai Chicken Soup

This soup is a meal in itself, packed with fresh Thai flavours of lemon grass, ginger and kaffir lime leaves. The lime leaves have a strong flavour and can be bought fresh or dried from most supermarkets. The recipe is for a subtle flavoured soup with a very mild kick of chilli. If you like strong flavours then by all means add more lemon grass and chilli, or serve with a bottle of chilli sauce for the brave to splash on top. Although my children didn't like the soup, they did like the chicken, rice and vegetables that I took from the soup with a slotted spoon.

Serves 4-6 as a main course

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 stick lemon grass, very finely chopped
• 2.5cm / 1inch peeled ginger root, very finely chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, very finely chopped
• 1-2 mild green chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 sticks celery, diced
• 1.3kg / 3 lb oven ready chicken
• salt
• 4-5 Fresh or dried Kaffir lime leaves
• 115g / 4oz long grain rice, rinsed through a sieve
• 175g / 6oz frozen peas
• 85g / 3oz or more, Chestnut or Shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 4 tbsp chopped coriander
• Shop bought fried shallots or onions to garnish, optional

Instructions


1. make sure that the lemon grass, ginger, garlic and chilli are chopped as finely as you can. Heat the oil in a large saucepan into which the chicken will fit with a lid on. Add the finely chopped spices and the carrots and celery, stir and saute for 3-4 minutes.
   
   
2. Check that the chicken is clean, and remove any excess fat from the cavity. Put into the pot along with the Kaffir lime leaves and salt. Cover with water and a lid and poach over a gentle heat for 40 minutes before adding the rice and cook for a further 20 minutes.
   
   
3. Remove the chicken and when cool enough to handle, peel away the skin and remove the meat in bite sized chunks. Skim the surface of the soup with a spoon to remove the extra fat, then return the chicken to the pan. Add the peas and mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes more. Check the seasoning and stir in the coriander moments before serving.
   
   
4. Serve in large bowls, as everyone will want plenty. Scatter a few fried onions on top if you wish.

Copyright Phil Vickery

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