Chicken Soup Recipe

Chicken soup is a soup made by boiling chicken parts and/or bones in water, with various vegetables and flavorings. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth, often served with small pieces of chicken or vegetables, or with noodles or dumplings, or grains such as rice and barley. Chicken soup has also acquired the reputation of a folk remedy for colds and flus, and in many countries including the United States is considered a classic comfort food.

Traditionally, chicken soup is prepared using old hens too tough and stringy to be roasted or cooked for a short time. In modern cities fowl are difficult to come by, and broiler chickens (young chickens suitable for broiling or roasting) are often used to make soup; soup hens or fowl are to be preferred when available. Several terms are sometimes confused when referring to chicken soup or chicken soups. The following is an attempt to clarify the terminology:

* Chicken stock is a liquid in which chicken bones and vegetables have been boiled for the purpose of serving as an ingredient in more complex dishes. Chicken stock is not usually served as is. Stock can be made with less palatable parts of the chicken, such as feet, necks or bones: the higher bone content in these parts contributes more gelatin to the liquid, making it a better base for sauces. Stock can be reboiled and reused as the basis for a new stock. Bouillon cubes are often used instead of chicken stock prepared from scratch.
* Chicken broth is the liquid part of chicken soup. Broth can be served as is, or used as stock, or served as soup with noodles. Broth can be milder than stock, does not need to be boiled as long, and can be made with meatier chicken parts.
* Chicken bouillon or bouillon de poulet is the French term for chicken broth.
* Chicken consommé is a more refined chicken broth. It is usually strained to perfect clarity, and reduced to concentrate it.
* While any soup in which chicken has been boiled or with a chicken stock base is, strictly speaking, a chicken soup, chicken soup, unless qualified, implies that the soup is served as a thin broth, possibly with pieces of meat, vegetables, noodles, or dumplings.

Curative properties

According to food historians chicken soup was prescribed as a cure for the common cold in ancient Egypt[citation needed]. The 10th century Persian physician Avicenna referred to the curative powers of chicken soup in his writings. In the 12th-century the Jewish physician and sage Maimonides wrote that chicken soup “has virtue in rectifying corrupted humours,” and recommended it as nutrition for convalescents; Maimonides also particularly recommended chicken soup for people suffering from hemorrhoids and the early stages of leprosy.

Modern research conducted by Dr. Stephen Rennard, professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and his colleagues at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha suggests that there might be some scientific basis for the belief in the curative powers of chicken soup. They found that the particular blend of nutrients and vitamins in traditional chicken soup can slow the activity of certain white blood cells. This may have an anti-inflammatory effect that could hypothetically lead to temporary ease from symptoms of illness. Their research was published in 2000 in the scientific journal Chest[2]. This was not, however, an in vivo clinical trial, and did not demonstrate that chicken soup was the best foodstuff for this purpose.

Because it is simple to prepare, relatively cheap, nutritious, and easily digested, chicken soup is a good food for winter convalescents. Sipping warm soup can also clear the sinuses because of the steam ventilating into the nasal passages, serving as a natural decongestant, which also relieves cold and flu symptoms. Additionally, cold and flu viruses can only survive within a narrow temperature range, and sipping hot liquids can raise the ambient temperature in the nose and throat above this threshold. Last, but not least, chicken soup can be beneficial due to the placebo effect of comfort foods.

Chicken Soup (or Broth) in Britain is a clear and watery soup with chunky vegetables (such as carrot, celery and onion), chicken and salt. However cream of chicken soup is commonly more popular. It is a thick creamy soup.

In the United States and Canada, chicken soup often has noodles in it, thus giving it its common name of “chicken noodle soup.” The term may have been coined in a commercial for Campbell’s soup in the 1930’s. The original 21 varieties of Campbell’s condensed soup featured a “chicken soup with noodles”, but when it was advertised on the “Amos & Andy” radio show in the 1930s by a slip of the tongue the soup was referred to as “chicken noodle soup”; Campbell’s was preparing to discontinue the soup due to low sales. After the broadcast, letters began pouring in asking for Chicken Noodle Soup. Campbell’s then changed the name of their soup. Several variations on chicken noodle (usually with the pasta in various shapes such as “ABC’s” or stars) have made it one of Campbell’s best selling products.