Chicken soup is not only delicious and nutritious but also has the effects of fighting fatigue, improving beauty, and maintaining skin health, making it a long-time favorite. Now that people's financial situations have improved, whether dining out or hosting a banquet at home, chicken soup is always a popular choice. But do you know how to cook chicken soup to make it the most nutritious and delicious? Are there people who should not drink chicken soup? With these questions, let's learn how to cook chicken soup together!
Savory Chicken Soup
Many people might think that making chicken soup is simple: just put the chicken in a pot of water and cook it, adding a few seasonings and salt. However, cooking chicken soup requires skill. If certain steps are reversed or done incorrectly, the resulting soup can often be bland and lose some nutritional elements. Pay attention to these key points when making chicken soup:
(1) Use a live chicken, not a fresh one
Using a live chicken goes without saying, mainly to ensure the freshness of the meat.
However, after buying a fresh chicken, you should first place it in the freezer for about 3 hours before taking it out to thaw and cook. This process is similar to the principle of "aged meat." When an animal is suddenly slaughtered, its body naturally releases various toxins. Furthermore, a freshly killed chicken has a body temperature suitable for bacterial growth. Freezing it at this stage can both kill bacteria and allow the chicken to naturally transition from the "rigor mortis" stage to the "maturation" stage. This results in the best quality meat and a more flavorful soup.
(2) The essential step: blanching
Nutritional research shows that any meat should be blanched in boiling water before being used for soup. This not only removes the raw, gamey smell but also thoroughly cleans the meat, resulting in a clear, not cloudy, broth that is savory without any off-flavors. This process is called blanching.
There are techniques to blanching. If you cook the meat in cold water, its nutrients will be severely lost as the water heats up to a boil. The best method is to add the meat to warm water and cook for seven to eight minutes, turning the meat pieces occasionally during the process. Of course, you can also add it to boiling water, in which case, cook for only three to five minutes.
(3) Start the stewing with a gentle heat
After blanching, you should immediately rinse the meat pieces with cold water before placing them in the pot to stew.
This is because stewing is best done with cold water. As the water temperature slowly rises, the ingredients will fully release their nutrients, and ingredients at the same temperature as the water will produce a better flavor.
(4) Mastering the heat is key to stewing
The main purpose of stewing is to drink the soup, with the meat being secondary. Therefore, using a pressure cooker is not recommended. Nutrients are best extracted through slow, long cooking over low heat, and a pressure cooker's short cooking time cannot achieve this effect. Therefore, a clay pot is ideal for making chicken soup. Bring the water to a boil over high heat for the first 10 minutes, then reduce to low heat. The boil should be kept at a simmer, just below a full rolling boil. This is because clay pots have excellent heat retention, and if you turn down the heat after a full boil, the subsequent bubbling can diminish the "umami" of the soup.
During the stewing process, try not to lift the lid, as this can let the steam escape, causing the soup to lose its original, rich flavor.
(5) The art of adding seasonings
When making chicken soup, the order in which you add seasonings is crucial; otherwise, the final soup will be significantly less delicious.
Some people like to put all the seasonings in at the very beginning, which is not scientific. When making chicken soup, adding salt too early will cause the proteins in the chicken to coagulate, significantly reducing the soup's nutritional value and flavor, and can result in a bland soup with tough meat.
So, when should you add the seasonings? Salt and other seasonings should be added towards the end of the cooking process. After adding the salt, do not stir, as this can leave a raw salt taste. After adding the salt, turn the heat up high again for 10 minutes without lifting the lid. This will result in a more intensely flavorful chicken soup.
(6) These people should not drink chicken soup
Although chicken soup is a nourishing delicacy, it is not suitable for everyone. The nutrients in chicken soup are small water-soluble proteins, fats, and inorganic salts that are dissolved from the chicken oil, meat, bones, and skin. Furthermore, most of the fat in chicken soup consists of saturated fatty acids.
If you suffer from hyperlipidemia, peptic ulcers, weakened kidney function, or gastric ulcers, you should try to avoid drinking chicken soup. It will not only increase your body's burden but can also worsen your condition.
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