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Chicken soup

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"Chicken Noodle Soup" redirects here. For the DJ Webstar song, see Chicken Noodle Soup (song).
A bowl of homemade chicken soup. Because it is simple to prepare, relatively cheap, nutritious, and easy on the digestive system, chicken soup is a good food for winter convalescence.

Chicken soup is a soup made by boiling chicken parts 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.

Strictly speaking the birds preferably used for soup are not chickens, but old hens and boiling fowl too tough and stringy to be roasted or cooked for a short time. In modern cities broilers are difficult to come by, and true chickens are often used to make soup; broilers are to be preferred when available.

Terminology

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 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 poule 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 powers

According to food historians chicken soup was prescribed as a cure for the common cold in Ancient Egypt. The 10th century Persian physician Avicenna referred to the curative powers of chicken soup in his writings. In the 12th century the Jewish 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. [1].

OMG I am on wikipedia, but anyway, chicken soup is used with rest to treat colds and headaches by people who practice holistic health care. WIKIPEDIA IS AWSOME!!! my comment about colds is true

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. Last, but not least, chicken soup can be beneficial due to the placebo effect of comfort foods.

Chicken soup in different cultures

Britain

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

Belgium

The " Gentse-waterzooi" is a stew with chicken, vegetables and cream originally from Ghent, Belgium. A stew-like form of chicken soup is called Chicken Booyah, known in Wisconsin as “Belgian Penicillin”.

Portugal/Brazil

Chicken soup is known as Canja[1]. Canja is a chicken broth prepared with rice, diced carrots, and shredded chicken meat. It is seasoned with salt, onions, garlic, cumin and bay leaves. It is believed to help a person overcome colds, digestive problems, among other mild forms of sickness.

Chinese

Many East Asian soups are based on chicken broth. Typical Chinese seasoning for chicken soup includes: ginger, spring onions, black pepper, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil.

Colombian

Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, is known for a version of chicken soup called ajiaco. Along with chicken, ajiaco typically includes sweetcorn, potatoes, avocado, capers, an herb called guascas, and is served with a dollop of sour cream.

Eastern European

In Bulgaria chicken soup is often seasoned with lemon juice or vinegar. The Polish sometimes serve ground almonds in their rosół: this was probably the basis for a form of croutons popular in Israel, known as soup almonds.

French

The French serve chicken-based forms of bouillon and consommé. Typical French seasoning for chicken soup includes: bay leaves, fresh thyme, dry white wine and garlic.

German

In Germany homemade chicken soup typically consists of chicken broth to which kitchen herbs and (often) durum wheat noodles are added. Another dish made with chicken broth, pieces of chicken, boiled vegetables and kitchen herbs is known as Hühnereintopf, meaning chicken stew. Another way of making chicken soup from Germany is to make homemade noodles and add them to the chicken broth with no vegetables and just pickling spice, salt and pepper are added to it.

Greek

In Greece chicken soup is usually made with lemon and eggs, and served with rice. This soup, called avgolemono (egg and lemon) is a traditional remedy for colds and hangovers.

Italian

In Italy, chicken soup is often served with pasta, in such dishes as cappelletti in brodo, tortellini in brodo and passatelli.

Jewish

Chicken soup is a traditional dish, often with matzah balls. People in the shtetl were often very poor, but chicken-raising required little land or money[3]. Every Jewish family would try to acquire at least one chicken in honor of the Shabbat meals, and would try to stretch it as far as it would go. Every part of the chicken was used, with dishes such as p'tcha (chicken feet), pupiks (roasted gizzards), chopped liver, stuffed hezel (chicken neck), and greben (crackling made from the fat and skin). Schmaltz (chicken fat) was kept and used for cooking. After eating the meat, chicken carcasses were used to prepare chicken soup. Parts of the chicken—especially the breasts, which produce a more delicate flavor when bolied—were boiled to make soup, and the boiled meat then used in dishes such as kreplach, knishes, and blintzes. Tortelloni-like kreplach are traditionally added to the soup on the eve of Yom Kippur. Lokshen (flat egg noodles) are also a favorite Jewish addition to chicken soup. A traditional garnish, nowadays difficult to obtain in shops due to hygiene regulations banning the sale of internal organs, was unlaid chicken eggs [4][5], taken from the inner organs of the hen and boiled in the soup. Herbs traditionally served with Jewish chicken soup are parsley and dill.

Korean

Samgyetang is a Korean chicken soup with Korean ginseng, dried jujube fruits, garlic, ginger and glutinous rice. It is held to be not only a cure for physical ailments but a preventer of sickness. Baeksuk, which is the Korean counterpart to the chicken noodle soup of the western culture, is also popular among Koreans for its power to cure minor illnesses such as a cold. While the chicken noodle soup, as the name suggests, has some noodles in it quite often, Baeksuk does not contain any noodles.

Mexico

Caldo de pollo is a common Latin-American soup made with whole chicken pieces instead of chopped or shredded chicken, and large cuts of vegetables, such as half-slices of potatoes and whole leaves of cabbage.

United States and Canada

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 shapessuch as "ABC's" or stars) have made chicken soup one of Campbell's best selling products and has moved chicken soup from an ethnic food to a nationwide food.

Chicken soup in history and media

Preparation

The flavor of the chicken in chicken soup is most potent when the chicken is boiled in water with salt and only a few vegetables, such as onion, carrots, and celery. Variations on the flavor are gained by adding root vegetables such as parsnip, potato, sweet potato and celery root, herbs such as parsley and dill, and other vegetables such as zucchini, whole garlic cloves or tomatoes. The soup should be brought to a boil and then simmered in a covered pot on a very low flame for one to three hours, adding water if necessary. Seasonings such as black pepper can be added. A clearer broth is achieved by skimming the film of congealed fat off the top of the soup as it is cooking; the broth can be further clarified by straining it through a strainer or cloth. Saffron or turmeric are sometimes added as a yellow colorant. It has also been said that the amount of scum can be reduced by first bringing the chicken to boil from a pot of cold water and discarding it before continuing.

Nutritional value

Chicken soup can be a relatively low fat food: fat can be removed by chilling the soup after cooking and skimming the layer of congealed fat from the top. The nutritional value of chicken soup can be boosted by adding turkey meat to chicken soup recipes: turkey is a richer source of iron. Research has also shown that the longer the cooking time of soups containing meat and bones, the higher the calcium content of the soup.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Ohry, A, Tsafrir, J. (1999) Is Chicken Soup an Essential Drug? Canadian Medical Association Journal. 161 (12)
  2. ^ Chest, volume 118, pages 1150-1157: “Chicken Soup Inhibits Neutrophil Chemotaxis In Vitro”
  3. ^ Chicken Soup - Culinary Poetry and Its Secrets
  4. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/dining/07eggs.html?ex=1328504400&en=4baf21b1f8cba27b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "What the Egg Was First", The New York Times
  5. ^ http://www.soupsong.com/sharris.html "Chicken soup with unborn egg yolks", from the "soupsong" website
Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on

See also

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