Another hot chicken soup

CEBU, Philippines — Chicken is a most popular and convenient ‘meat’. In the Philippine countryside especially, where meat shops are quite rare, families raise chickens for household consumption. And a chicken dish is already part of the Filipino social culture as a special treat.

It is also a staple in special occasions, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao. In fact, the standard “Happy Birthday Song” has been jokingly tweaked to put the chicken in. The line in the song “Happy birthday to you…” is changed to “Happy birthday ‘wa’y manok’,” to mean that the birthday celebration is not much of a celebration if there’s no chicken dish in the celebratory fare.

Chicken is believed to have anti-inflammatory effects that can temporarily relieve illness. And preparing a chicken dish is not at all complicated. Chicken soup, for example, can be simply made up of whole chicken and “tanglad” (lemon grass), boiled in water; other vegetables can be added, of course, if available. It is a good body warmer during the cold months.

But over the years, Filipino chicken recipes have picked up inputs from neighboring cultures. The Chicken Noodle Soup, for instance, is apparently a Chinese influence. It has chicken stock or broth, wide egg noodles, vegetables, and spices, among the ingredients added to the basic chicken meat.

Vanjo Merano, at www.panlasangpinoy.com, notes: “One of the earliest methods [of making Chicken Noodle Soup] is having a whole dressed chicken… boiled in several cups of water to extract juices that will make-up the broth. Bones are then removed from the boiled chicken while the meat is chopped to attain a uniform size and placed back in the cooking pot for further cooking.”

But, instead, Merano shares a method that is “more practical than the conventional style” in order to save on time and effort. “Instead of starting from scratch, chopped deboned chicken and pre-packed chicken stock will be used; this saves time in boiling and deboning.” And this “more practical” recipe may be tried at home by anyone.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken; deboned and diced

2 cups wide egg noodles

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

10 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1½ teaspoon salt

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup onion, chopped

¾ cup carrots, diced

1 tablespoon cornstarch combined with 2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon parsley, minced

Procedure:

1. Heat a cooking pot and pour in the chicken stock, water, and vegetable oil. Bring to a boil.

2. Put in the chicken and salt then simmer for 40 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

3. Add celery, onions, and carrots then simmer for 12 minutes.

4. Put in the wide egg noodles and cook for about 10 minutes.

5. Pour in the cornstarch-and-water mixture, then stir thoroughly (this will thicken the texture of the soup).

6. Sprinkle minced parsley on top.

Serve and enjoy while hot! This recipe serves four persons. (FREEMAN)