So, I call my chicken soup Cuban-ish because although the core of my ingredients derive from my Cuban heritage, I’ve made so many modifications I doubt my mother would recognize it as having been derived from her recipe once upon a time.
First, I roast a chicken to make the stock. (You can, of course, just use a premade rotisserrie chicken.) When it’s cool, I pull all the meat I can off the bone, making sure to leave behind all the gristle, bone, and skin. I place it in a zip lock or other food storage container in the fridge until I’m ready to make my soup.
Second, I make the stock. You can put pretty much anything you like in a stock. It took me a long time to accept this but it’s true.
There are some base ingredients I always use:
- 2 onions,
- 3-5 garlic cloves,
- 2 celery stalks,
- 3-5 bird’s eye peppers (use only if you like heat),
- 2 carrots, roughly 1 tsp whole peppercorns,
- 2 bay leaves, and
- 1 tbsp white-wine (or apple cider) vinegar. (The vinegar is the only essential ingredient since it draws out the nutrients and minerals from the bones into the stock.)
If I have parsley or thyme I’ll toss them in as well as any other herb I may have getting past it’s prime in my fridge at the time. Roughly chopped is fine for your ingredients, no need to peel etc. (some say you don’t even need to peel, but I feel like it releases the flavor better).
Place the chicken remnants (bone, skin, and gristle) and all your ingredients in a large stock pot with 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Let simmer, covered, for at least 4 hours (if you have the time you can do 6 hours). Then strain through a sieve and discard everything but your stock.
Note: Of course, you can skip both these steps and use a rotiserrie chicken and store bought stock (I recommend unsalted). I’ve done it and it’s certainly much faster but it’s NEVER as good.
Third, while the stock simmers I prepare my soup ingridients:
- 1/2 Calabaza (winter suash) peeled & cut into large chunks
- 1 large boniato (no real English equivalent but white sweet potato comes closest), peeled and cut into small chunks
- 2-4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
- 2 ears of corn, shucked and cut in half
- 2-4 oz Diana brand Fideos Finos (any angel hair pasta will do). Quantity is dependent on whether you like thicker soups (like me) or brothier versions.
Finally, when my stock is ready, I toss my ingredients in (except fideos/pasta), don’t forget the chicken!, and salt to taste. I let simmer/low boil for 20-30 minutes (until boniato and carrots can be pierced easily with fork) and then add fideos/pasta and cook for another 10 minutes. Voila!
Yes, it takes all day, but I promise you the taste is worth it!
Musings of a Dragon 