Laotian Tangy Chicken Soup |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes |
Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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A beautiful, but complex, Vietnamese soup Ingredients:
1 pineapple (approx 1.5 kg) |
approx 2 litres of water |
4 chicken thigh fillets |
0.25 cup vegetable oil |
4 thai birdseye chillies, minced, including seeds |
3 cloves garlic, minced |
0.25 cup plus 2 tablespoons fish sauce |
50g fresh mushrooms (preferably shiitake), thinly sliced |
2 large tomatoes, chopped |
1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts |
0.5 teaspoon black pepper |
0.3 cup fresh basil, chopped |
0.3 cup fresh mint, chopped |
0.3 cup fresh lemon verbena (it's a herb), chopped |
1 tablsp fresh oregano, chopped |
0.5 teasp salt |
Directions:
1. Cut peel from pineapple in a thin layer and discard.
2. Trim outer layer of pineapple, cutting just deep enough to remove eyes but allowing pineapple to remain intact, and transfer trimmings to a blender.
3. Quarter pineapple lengthwise and cut out core, then coarsely chop core and transfer to blender.
4. Puree with 2 cups water until smooth.
5. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a 2-quart glass measure, pressing hard on solids (discard solids), then add enough water to measure 8 cups pineapple broth.
6. Cut remaining pineapple into 1/2-inch pieces and put in a bowl.
7. Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Gently pound chicken 1/4 inch thick with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin.
8. Cut chicken across the grain into 1/4-inch-wide strips and transfer to a bowl, then chill, covered.
9. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute chiles and 2 tablespoons garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup fish sauce and boil until sauce is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. (Fish sauce will be extremely pungent when first added but will have a mild flavor in soup.)
10. Add pineapple broth and bring to a boil. Stir in pineapple pieces, mushrooms, tomatoes, bean sprouts, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
11. While soup simmers, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute remaining tablespoon garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
12. Add remaining 2 tablespoons fish sauce and simmer until sauce is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
13. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper and add to garlic mixture, then saute, stirring, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes.
14. Stir chicken into soup along with herbs and salt and simmer 1 minute.
15. Serve with rice.
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