Herbal Pumpkin Chicken Soup

Recipes & Cookery Tips:
Herbal Pumpkin Chicken Soup

This delicious, warming soup combines Western and Chinese cooking methods and ingredients.

Ingredients

2 spoonfuls Olive Oil
1 medium Onion
1 Chilli
Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, and Bay Leaf or other kinds of herbs
1,500cc water
A few (2 or 3) shiitake mushrooms.
Chicken soup bones (approx. 600g)
1 small pumpkin

How to cook it

1. Fry the onion, chili and herbs with olive oil in a large, deep, thick-bottomed pan, at low heat for about 20 minutes until the vegetables soften, then add the water and bring to the boil.

2. Use boiled water to wash the bones. Drain the water, then add the bones to the soup and bring to boil again. This removes any unpleasant smell from the bones.

3. Add the shiitake mushrooms to the soup. Then turn to low heat, put a lid on the pan, and leave the soup to simmer for 3 to 4 hours.

4. Peel the pumpkin, and cut into small chunks, then add into chicken soup. Bring to boil, then simmer for about 40 minutes more.

5. Add some salt. It's ready to eat!

Tips

1. If you just follow steps 1 to 3, you have a recipe for chicken stock. You can use chicken stock as the basis for many other dishes, such as other kinds of soup, and to flavour a wide variety of dishes, too. It can be kept in the freezer for 2-3 months.

2. You only need to choose two or three kinds of herbs for the soup. Don't use too many herbs, because you will no longer be able to smell the distinct aromas.

3. You can use leeks to replace the pumpkin.

4. If you want to serve this soup as a main course, you can add chicken drumsticks into the soup, at step 2, above.

5. To judge when the soup is ready: the soup will become really thick and the aroma will become especially fragrant. If the soup is still too watery, leave the lid open, and continue simmering until it thickens.

6. If you can't find them in your local market, or supermarket, chicken soup bones are just chicken bones without much meat on them.