Korean chicken soup

The comforts of chicken soup will never go unnoticed.

Korean chicken soup Credit: The Great Australian Cookbook

• serves

  6

• prep

  3 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1.8 kg whole free-range chicken 
• 2.5 litres cold water 
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, peeled, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stick, roughly chopped
• 100 g unsalted butter 
• 2 tbsp Korean sesame oil, plus extra to serve 
• 1 medium onion, finely diced 
• 1 small knob fresh ginger, finely sliced 
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced 
• 100 g fresh shiitake mushrooms, finely sliced
• 100 g fresh oyster mushrooms, torn into thirds 
• 1 tsp mild Korean chilli flakes 
• 2 tbsp fish sauce 
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce 
• 300 g chopped kimchi (available from Asian supermarkets) 
• 200 g thin somen wheat noodles 
• 1 small bunch baby bok choy, leaves broken off 
• 5 Asian green spring onions, white part only, finely sliced 
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice 
• sea salt to taste 
• 2 free-range eggs, beaten 
• 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, to garnish 
• 3 tbsp fried shallots, to garnish 
• pea flowers, young peas, optional, to serve

Instructions

1. To prepare the chicken, remove the wings and legs, cut the breasts from the carcass but leave on the bone. Place all the chicken pieces into a large saucepan with the cold water. Add the carrot, onion and celery. Bring to just boiling point, then reduce to a low simmer for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the chicken breasts with a pair of tongs and a spoon and place into a colander. Allow the chicken to cool for 15 minutes.

2. Wearing gloves, remove the breast meat. Return the chicken bones to the cooking liquid and continue to simmer on low for a further 30 minutes. Finely slice the cooled chicken meat and place in the refrigerator.

3. Into a separate clean saucepan, add the butter and sesame oil and place over a medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and sweat for a further minute.

4. Add the shiitake and oyster mushrooms and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the chilli flakes, fish sauce, soy sauce and kimchi. Stir and remove from the heat.

5. Use a ladle to remove any impurities and fat from the surface of the chicken stock. Pass the stock through a fine sieve and add it to the pan of vegetables. Simmer soup on low for 10 minutes. 

6. Bring a separate pan of salted water to the boil, add the somen noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the noodles and divide equally between six warmed bowls. Turn the soup up to high, add the chicken meat, bok choy, spring onions and lime juice. As soon as the soup starts to boil, turn off the heat. 

7. Taste the soup and correct the seasoning with sea salt if necessary. Stir the soup to create a whirlpool, then add the beaten egg. Serve a generous ladleful of soup on top of the warm noodles and garnish with toasted sesame seeds, fried shallots and a drizzle of sesame oil.

8. Peter also garnished with freshly picked pea flowers and young peas from his garden.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.