Chicken Clear Soup Recipe
Soups and Stews are the most comforting dish when the weather gets colder. A pot of soup bubbling in the stove comforts me instantly when I am sick or not feeling well. This simple chicken clear soup gives me all the comfort I need. This is one soup which I make more often like my favorite hot and sour soup, egg drop soup and sweet corn soup.
About Chicken Clear Soup
Chicken clear soup is a delicious clear soup made with a flavourful chicken broth. The soup is very light on its own, comforting to the soul and very tasty. And as a bonus this soup can be made in less than 30 minutes. Clear soup is nothing but a flavourful rich broth made using Bone-in chicken along with onions, carrots, ginger and garlic. I like to add a bit of chicken bouillon powder to add flavour the broth. Once the flavourful chicken broth is ready, there is so many ways you can customize this soup. Some people like to serve the broth on its own, but I add shredded chicken to make this clear soup filling and substantial. To make this soup chinese take-out style, make sure you thicken the soup with cornstarch which gives the soup viscosity. Chicken clear soup is usually pretty bland to look at it, so to make it restaurant style, sprinkle it with chopped green onions and red chillies for a pop of colour and flavour.
Watch Chicken Clear Soup Video
Clear Stock (Broth) Ingredients
To make a tasty soup, you need to make a flavourful broth first. These simple combination of ingredients creates a rich broth or stock base. Chicken - Use whole chicken cut into pieces. Make sure the chicken is bone-in and skin-on for flavour and to create a flavourful base stock. Ginger & Garlic - not only it adds medicinal benefits to the soup, but the aroma infuses into the broth and chicken meat. Onions & Carrots - chop them into chunks to impart their sweet flavour into the stock, also it makes the straining process easier. Chicken Bouillon Powder - this is optional, but i like to add a dash of stock powder to amp up the flavour of the soup. Salt & Pepper - seasoning! very important!
Chicken Clear Soup Ingredients
Clear Broth (Stock) - as mentioned above I made my own stock to form the base of the soup. but you can just use any good quality store bought chicken stock or broth. Even bone broth is best option. Cooked Chicken - I shred up the meat from the cooked chicken and used in the soup. You can use shredded rotisserie chicken as well. Cornstarch - for restaurant style soup, thickening the soup with cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with water) gives the gloss and viscosity. Green Onions & chillies - purely for garnish and colour. Salt & Pepper - seasoning, very important!
Cooking Chicken Clear Soup (3 Ways)
Stove Top
This is the method I prefer, even though it takes a bit of time. I think it is worth the effort. Cooking the chicken the flavouring in a pot for long time extract as much flavour from the chicken and makes it so flavourful.
Pressure Cooker
Easy way to make the chicken broth, take half the time than the stove top. Take all the ingredients in a pressure cooker and cover with water. Make sure the chicken is completely covered. Bring this to a full boil, reduce the flame, cover the pressure cooker with lid. Pressure cook for 4 whistle, let the pressure release by itself. Strain and use as required.
Instant Pot
Take all the ingredients in instant pot, add water and cover with lid. Set mode to pressure cook high for 10 minutes. Make sure the steam vent is locked. Once timer is up, let the pressure release naturally. Open the instant pot, strain and use as required.
How to Make Chicken Clear Soup (Stepwise Pictures)
Making Clear Soup
1)I cooked chicken on stove top. This is the method I prefer, even though it takes a bit of time. I think it is worth the effort. Cooking the chicken the flavouring in a pot for long time extract as much flavour from the chicken and makes it so flavourful. Take chicken with bone-in in a pot. If you can, use chicken with skins-on. This way the chicken stays so moist and tender. 2)Add in sliced peeled ginger and crushed garlic into the chicken. 3)Add in chopped carrot and onions. 4)Add in chicken bouillon powder or stock powder. This is optional, but adds so much flavour to the broth. 5)Pour in water to the chicken completely. I used around a litre of water. 6)Chicken bouillon powder has some salt added. So add very little salt and pepper to taste at this point, you can always add more while serving. 7)Mix it really well. Bring this to a full boil. Cover the pot with a lid and cook on low heat for 35 to 40 minutes.
Straining Stock & Shredding Chicken
8)Once the chicken is cooked. Strain the chicken, onions, carrots, ginger and garlic. You can use a slotted spoon to do this step, else you can use a colander. 9)Let the chicken cool just a bit so it is easy to shred the meat from the bones. Reserve the flavourful stock in the pot. Making Chicken Clear Soup 10)Bring the broth to a full boil. 11)Add in the shredded chicken back in. Let it heat through and get warmed up. 12)For thickening the soup, I am using cornstarch slurry. Mix couple tablespoon of cornstarch with ¼ cup of water to a smooth sauce like. Pour this into the boiling stock and mix gently so it thickens. 13)Now the soup has thickened to my liking. While adding cornstarch slurry add little at a time. You can add more or less as per the thickened consistency. 14)Finally garnish the soup with chopped red chillies (which is optional). Add in finely chopped spring onions. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper). 15)Restaurant Style Chicken Clear Soup Ready to Serve. 16)Enjoy Chicken Clear Soup on its own or with dim sum, spring rolls, dumplings or wontons.
Expert Tips
Chicken - For flavourful chicken stock, use chicken with bone-in. Using chicken with skins ensure the chicken doesn’t dry up and stays moist. Broth | Stock - for faster option you can use store bought chicken broth. For substantial soup - you can use any chopped vegetables in your clear soup. Add cooked pasta, cooked rice, boiled noodles, cooked wontons in your clear soup to make it filling. Seasonings & Flavourings - you can use any flavours or seasoning to your taste. Dash of oregano, parsley can add so much flavour to your soup.
Storage & Serving
You can store cooked soup in fridge upto a week in an air tight container. Reheat in microwave for one minute or on stove top till bubbly and serve hot. You can serve the soup on its own in a bowl or with cooked dim sum, spring rolls or wontons.
What is chicken clear soup made of?
clear soup is a flavourful broth made with chicken which is cooked with flavourings and seasonings for a very long time to extract as much as flavour into the broth.
Is chicken clear soup good for health?
The collagen from the chicken bones is extracted into the broth due to the long hours of cooking which makes it very healthy. chicken clear soup on its own is very light and filling.
What type of soup is clear soup?
As mentioned in the name, it is a clear type of soup which mainly means broth or stock. Additional flavouring is added to make it to your preference.
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