321. Peruvian chicken soup, Aguadito de pollo - Recipe

Peruvian chicken soup, Aguadito de pollo

Chicken soup is the classic comfort food. In most cultures, chicken soup is a clear broth made from an old hen. It is served with bits of chicken meat, chopped vegetables, rice, noodles or dumplings.

It is probably every (non-vegetarian) Mom's idea of the best medicine to cure a cold. So with a possible pandemic looming, what better way to "build up the constitution" as my Mom would have said, than to eat lots of chicken soup.

I found a fabulous, different take on chicken soup in Wandering Chopsticks' blog - Peruvian chicken soup, Aguadito de pollo. This soup is a cilantro lover's dream soup. Cilantro and green peas are the main vegetables in Peruvian chicken soup.


My Aguadito de pollo is based loosely on Wandering Chopsticks' recipe.

I used a quart of turkey broth made from the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Also, WC pureed the cilantro, onions and garlic in the food processor. I minced the garlic in a press and chopped the cilantro and onions with a knife (I'm too lazy to bring the Robot Coupe out to puree a few ingredients. Too many parts to wash).

Aguadito means "watery" and but my soup turned out to be a thick, green congee. Perfect! My favourite food teamed with my favourite herb. Soup heaven indeed!

Green congee

Here is how I made the soup:

Ingredients (for 4 bowls of soup):

A quart of turkey broth
Half a cup of cooked chicken meat, chopped (from the Vietnamese steamed chicken)
A cup cooked rice
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
A small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil
A bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
Half a cup of frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Bring the turkey broth to a boil in a large saucepan.
2. Add the rice and potatoes to the stock and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
3. Heat a small frying pan on low and add some olive olive. Add the onion and garlic. Sweat the vegetables. Don't brown them.
4. Add them to the pot and simmer for another ten minutes.
5. When you are ready to serve the soup, add the frozen peas and cooked chicken pieces to the soup. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
6. Take the soup off the heat and add the chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Dish up.
   

I am sending this recipe to Trupti's Food Corner. Trupti is the host for Tried and Tasted this month. T&T is the brainchild of the lovely Zlamushka, of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen.

This month, I am cooking recipes by Wandering Chopsticks whose fabulous blog is featured as Blog of the Month.



My Aguadito de pollo is going to the wonderful Deb of Kahakai Kitchen in Hawaii. Deb hosts a weekly food blogging event called Souper Sundays.

Souper Sundays just celebrated its first anniversary. It is now open to salads and sandwiches too. Congratulations to Deb for hosting a great year of delicious soups.