Chicken Congee Soup - Vietnamese recipe

I feel like I am coming down with a cold or something this morning. Yesterday, I had a sore throat and started to cough. Immediately, I gargled with a big glass of salt water. I feel so much better right away. This morning my sore throat went away, and no more cough. However, I still sneeze once in awhile. Therefore, I want to make some chicken soup. Hopefully, this soup would make me feel better and regain my strength again.

Usually, I would add raw beansprout to eat with this soup but since I am not feeling that great I think it's better not eating anything raw. This soup is so comforting. It has chicken, dried shallot, scallions, and you can eat it with Chinese fried bread stick also known as You Tiao in Mandarin. In Vietnam, this dish is often eaten for breakfast.



This is the Chinese fried bread stick, you tiao.

you can garnish your soup with scallion, dried shallots, chilli pepper, black peppers and some raw veggies if you like.

Stock:

* 6 chicken thighs, bone in without the skin
* 1 two-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled & halved lengthwise
* 5 whole cloves garlic, peeled
* 1 onion, peeled & quartered
* 10 peppercorns

Method:

To make stock, put first set of ingredients into a 6-qt stock pot and fill up with cold water. Bring to a boil and immediately lower heat to let stock gently simmer. Allow chicken to poach for about 25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken and allow to cool. Carefully take meat off the bones and try to keep the meat in large pieces. Return skins and bones to stock pot to continue simmering. The chicken meat can then be shredded into long, thin strips for use in congee or salad. Continue to add hot water to stock pot to keep ingredients submerged for the remainder of cooking time. Once done, pour stock through a fine mesh strainer into another stock pot. Discard the solids.

Congee:

* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed & drained
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 3 shallots, diced
* 1 tbsp fresh, minced ginger
* 4 stalks scallion, thinly sliced (white for soup, green for garnish)
* 2 tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce
* fine sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
* handful fresh scallion leaves, chopped

Method:

Rinse and drain rice. Heat up a skillet with olive oil, shallot, ginger, garlic and rice and toss until rice is fragrant and fully coated with oil. Transfer rice to pot of simmering stock. Cook for another 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Add white part of scallions, fish sauce and salt & pepper. Serve in soup bowl, topped with shredded chicken and chopped herbs. You can squeeze a bit of fresh lime juice for a burst of freshness. Mix all ingredients up before eating in order to savor all the wonderful flavors.