Annabel Crabb’s chicken soup recipe

Crabb writes: I talked through chicken soup technique on episode 313 of the podcast cos my kid was sick and I made a batch. And it occurs to me that the way I make chicken soup has evolved over the years thanks to genius tips from friends and well-wishers, and thus as a consequence is now… quite ornate. I’ve never written it down, so here we go.

Download a PDF version of the recipe. <<Link still to be added<<

For the stock:

• 2kg chicken wings

• 3 large carrots, chopped into three

• 2 brown onions, skin on, cut crosswise across their equators

• 1 large leek, halved lengthways

• 1 large bulb garlic, cut across the middle

• 3 sticks celery, chopped into large chunks

• 1 lemon, cut into quarters

• 1 corn cob, kernels shaved off
  
  

Herbs (if you’re heading for a European-style chicken noodle soup):

2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp black peppercorns, some parsley and stalks if you have them

Herbs (if you’re heading in an Asian direction): 

Couple of coriander roots if you have 'em, about an inch of fresh ginger sliced into discs, star anise if you’re into it

Method:

1. Heat your oven to HOT – 200C is fine. 

2. Tip your chicken wings and carrots and onions and lemon and garlic into a big roasting dish and toss in a tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, and chuck it into the oven.
   Roast until it’s starting to char and caramelise. The colour you get will contribute to the colour of your stock. Should take maybe 20 minutes? 

3. In a dry pan, char the cut sides of the leek until deep brown.

4. Take your roaster out of the oven. There may be little bits stuck to the tin. You need these bits. So swish your roasted items around to dislodge those stuck bits, or you could add half a cup of water to help loosen them. 

5. Scrape the lot into a pressure cooker with the celery, corn cob (not kernels), herbs and leek and cover with water – should be about 2 litres. If you don’t have a pressure cooker that is ABSOLUTELY FINE, it’ll just take longer.

6. Seal your pressure cooker and cook at full pressure for 45 minutes. Allow pressure to ease and the stock to come down in temperature before straining out all the solids. If you’re cooking in a big stovetop pot, just leave it on low and simmer for… well, how long have you got? Seriously, the longer and slower the better. Give it six hours if you have that much time! Two at least. Your house will smell amazing. Then strain out the solids.

For the soup:

You’ve already done the most important part, which is the stock. From here on in you can make any kind of soup. My friend Alice Ryan (of Glass Potatoes fame) just takes a bowl of stock and swirls a beaten egg into it – very simple!

Euro style...

I’d dice another couple of carrots, a stick of celery, half an onion and saute in a saucepan. Add a chicken breast, diced. Maybe a diced potato if you fancy. Saute. Then add a litre of your stock and check the seasoning. Break up some spaghetti and cook it in the stock and you’ve got a delicious European-style chicken noodle soup! Add the corn kernels towards the end and any other delicate veg you want to include (e.g. peas).

Asian style...

Carrots, celery, onion, chicken as above. But add a knob of minced ginger to the saute process and when you’re testing the seasoning, use soy sauce instead of salt to adjust. And use egg noodles instead of spaghetti. And throw in the corn kernels and maybe some sliced snow peas at the end. Garnish with coriander. 

What is this Chat 10 Looks 3 malarkey?

Ah, an EXCELLENT question! Chat 10 Looks 3 is a podcast by Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb. Each week they discuss what they're reading, watching, cooking, listening to or irrationally exhilarated by.

Check out every episode ever of the podcast here on our website. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most popular (and unpopular) podcast apps.

Oh, and you can watch some eps on YouTube.

This recipe first appeared in Chatterbox

Chatterbox is our somewhat sporadic, definitely shambolic newsletter. Next one coming soon(ish). Sign up here.