Chicken Soup with Rice, Ginger and Soy Sauce | Bon Appétit Magazine

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I’m FINALLY coming off of a weeks long illness. For someone who doesn’t really get sick much, it’s been fairly miserable. During this time, this chicken soup satiated my hunger and saved my sanity. Our entire household was sick at the same time and with a little one, we all needed to be fed. I opened up my current November issue of Bon Appétit and there, towards the beginning of the magazine was this recipe for “Feel Better Chicken Soup”. It looked simple, quick and possibly delicious but I had my doubts.

I confess, I love Bon Appétit!

Bon Appétit has slowly become my favorite food magazine. They are totally with it when it comes to their content, social media and YouTube channel. Talk about binge-worthy stuff. I love all the chefs they feature in their test kitchen and I probably waste a lot of time and procrastinate watching them instead of doing work. This recipe comes from Andy Baraghani, a senior food editor. What a dream job! Wish I worked there…

My first thoughts when I read the recipe for this chicken soup.

When I first read the recipe, I doubted that the soup could taste that great with just water instead of stock. It simmers for barely 25 minutes. The only aromatics are garlic and ginger. No bones in the chicken. Just boneless chicken thighs. Then there are sweet potatoes in the soup. I like sweet potatoes but I’ve never put them in a chicken soup. Mainly, I’ve used them in pureed soups. Also, there’s rice simmered in the soup. Would it make it like congee? A bit too starchy?

So with all these doubts, I decided to make it anyway because it just seemed too simple and quick to be good! After trying it, I’m glad to report that I love it! I think I’ve made it four times now and one of those times, my toddler requested I make it for breakfast (which I did). She is a lover of good broth and happily slurped this up. For her, I used half sweet potatoes and half carrots, which she prefers. I like it both ways.

How would I describe this chicken soup?

Maybe it was just being ill but I found this soup so comforting. All of that ginger and garlic was delicious and maybe there are some medicinal properties in them as well (lol)? The chicken was tender and juicy (hooray for dark meat!) and the rice was just enough carbs to make it filling. The broth, which I was so doubtful about, was savory and lemony. I used a bit more lemon than is called for but you can always dial it down. Use a good quality soy sauce and it will flavor the broth nicely. In the end, I thought the sweet potatoes were nice in this soup too. Being unpeeled didn’t even bother me much. A good way to get an orange vegetable and some antioxidants in your diet.

A few tips when making this recipe.

Since I’ve made this soup several times now, I’ve noticed how a few tweaks change it. I used chicken broth once and actually found that I didn’t like it as much. I preferred the broth made with water. Another tip would be to rinse your rice VERY well. The more starch that is removed, the clearer your broth will be. Another rice could probably easily be substituted, like sushi rice or a long grain white rice. I wouldn’t sweat it too much. The recipe did not state to cover the pot while simmering but I did. I didn’t want the broth to evaporate too much. I’ll also be adding a little bit more water too. I like a very brothy soup.

For the ginger, I minced it once and cut it into rounds another time. If you do not want to eat the ginger, I would cut it into large rounds so you can just avoid it. I could easily see this soup being a great recipe to use up things in your vegetable drawer. Adding greens like sliced bok choy, escarole, spinach or kale would be so good. Not to mention any kind of mushroom like shiitakes or enoki. A little chili would nice for some spicy heat too.

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