Roasted Chicken Soup

Everybody is sick!!! It seems like there is a flu epidemic in my house. Red noses and red eyes everywhere including mine. But, who could blame them for being sick. The weather is not friendly either. Cold, windy, and wet. It is annoying and not nice.

Well, it was few weeks ago. Now everybody is getting better again even the weather is still cold and not really friendly. During that horrible time, I made roasted chicken soup for my family. Chicken soup is a perfect dish for that time. Many people, including my grandmother said that chicken soup is healthy dish and can be used to treat flu symptoms. Even from what I've read in The New York Times, there was a scientific research that chicken soup contains amino acic cysteine which can help to clear the respiratory system. Chicken soup can also inhibit the movement of neutrophils, the most common white blood cells that defends against infection. Hmm.. whatever it is, chicken soup is good for treating flu people. It is served hot, contains fat, proteins from the chicken itself, and vitamins and minerals from the vegetables. Besides, it tastes good with all those spices inside.

My chicken soup is made from roasted chicken. I was using roasted chicken because it makes the taste even better and make the chicken meat more tender than using boiled non-roasted chicken. Look at my sup merah recipe as well. I always use roasted chicken for my soup. It really makes a big difference at the taste of my soup

First, lets make the roasted chicken (or you can see how to make roasted chicken from my sup merah recipe)
Ingredients :

• 2 Chicken thighs
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup mixed diced carrots, celery, and onion
• 1 stick of rosemary
• 4-5 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparations :

1. Preheat the oven for 210 C (410 F)
2. Prepare an ovenproof dish.
3. Scatter half cup of diced vegetables on the dish.
4. Put the chicken on the top of it.
5. Scatter the rest of the vegetables, garlic, and rosemary around the chicken.
6. Pour some olive oil on the top of the chicken.
7. Sprinkle generous amount of salt and ground black pepper.
8. Put the chicken into preheated oven and roast it for about 45 minutes.

After done making the roasted chicken, lest make the soup. 

Ingredients :

• 1 medium onion, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 medium shallot, minced (about 4 Indonesian shallots)
• 120 grams carrots, diced or sliced
• 120 grams green beans, sliced about 2 cm each
• 50 grams frozen peas
• 150 grams celery, diced
• 2 roasted chicken thighs
• 1 bayleave
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 cup (about 28 grams) elbow macaroni
• 1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced
• 2 liter water
• 5 sticks canned sausages (hot dogs), sliced
• 3 tbs vegetable oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation :

1. In a big pot preheat the vegetable oil.
2. Add minced shallot, onion, and garlic into the pot and saute until the onion and shallot become translucent.
3. Add celery and carrots into the pot and saute again until those vegetables become a bit tender.
   
4. Add roasted chicken into the pot
   
5. Pour water into the pot until the chicken is submerged.
6. Add ground nutmeg, ginger powder, bay leave into the pot and stir it lightly.
   
7. Reduce the heat and simmer it for about 30-40 minutes.
8. Remove the foam that appear on the surface.
9. Remove the chicken from the pot, separate the bones from the meat, and . 
10. Add sliced sausages, frozen peas, elbow macaroni, and sliced leek into the pot.
11. Add back the boneless chicken into the pot.
12. Stir and simmer again for about 10 minutes until the macaroni become tender.
13. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
14. Turn off the heat and serve it hot with toasted bread, or hot steamed rice, or with crouton.

Tip : You can always use any other kind of vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, sugar snaps, or baby corn. 

Tip : Fried shallot is a good condiment for chicken soup as well. Sprinkle it on the top of the soup or steamed rice right before serving it. 

It is always possible to freeze the leftover of chicken soup. Put it in an airtight container or thick plastic bag, and put it in a freezer. When you want to eat it again, just let it sit in a room temperature for about 1-2 hour and put the frozen soup into a pot. Turn on the heat and simmer it on low heat until all the liquid is melted.