I enjoy flavourful Chinese-style soups, whether at a restaurant or made at home.
Two of my favourite types to make are wonton soup and sweet and sour soup, but sometimes an ingredient I have on hand will point me in another direction.
Last week, I peered into my refrigerator and saw two cobs of local, end-of-season corn. The kernels would be good to use in a soup, I thought, so I looked through my collection of Chinese cookbooks for inspiration.
I found recipes for Cantonese corn soup that included bits of chicken. They sounded delicious, so I decided to make a variation of it. My twist was to use fresh corn kernels in the soup, rather than the canned cream corn many of the recipes I found called for.
To make the soup, I shucked the corn and cut off the kernels, then cooked them in oil with onion, garlic and ginger. I poured in chicken stock and simmered the soup a while. I then used an immersion (hand) blender to pulse and puree the soup (you could also use a food processor or blender), until it had a canned-cream-corn kind of texture, not a completely smooth one.
I then stirred in some tender shreds of cooked chicken and flavourings, sesame oil and soy sauce. The last step was to taste and adjust the soup’s seasoning and then, as for egg drop soup, I swirled in some raw, beaten egg, so it cooked and turned into strands in the soup.
The end result was a very tasty, rich, hearty, filling, comforting soup that will take the chill out of a rainy autumn day.
Chinese-style Corn and Chicken soup
This hearty and filling corn soup is rich with shreds of tender chicken and flavoured with ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil.
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: about 50 minutes
Makes: four servings
4 cups chicken stock
400 grams boneless, skinless chicken thighs (see Note 1)
2 Tbsp water, plus more as needed
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels (see Note 2)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
• salt and ground white pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 large egg, beaten
2 small green onions, thinly sliced
Place stock and chicken thighs in a small to medium pot set over medium-high heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, lowering the heat as needed to maintain that simmer. Simmer chicken 30 minutes, uncovered, or until very tender.
Remove pot from the heat. Use tongs to lift the chicken out of the pot and on to plate. Let chicken cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, pour the stock left in the pot into a 4-cup measuring cup. Top up the stock with water until you have four cups again.
Place the oil in a pot set over medium, medium-high heat (my pot was eight inches wide, and six inches tall). Add the corn, onion, garlic and ginger and cook and stir three to four minutes. Add the stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Lower heat as needed to maintain that gentle simmer, then simmer soup 10 minutes.
While the soup simmers, pull the now-cooled chicken thighs into 1/2-inch or so shreds.
When the soup has simmered 10 minutes, remove it from the heat. In a food processor or blender, or right in the pot with an immersion (hand) blender, pulse the soup until the corn is whirled into smaller pieces, kind of like canned creamed corn (do not smoothly puree it).
Set the soup back over the heat. Add the shredded chicken, soy sauce and sesame oil and return the soup to a simmer. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp water. Stir this mixture into soup, return to a simmer, and simmer 30 seconds.
Taste the soup and season it with salt and white pepper, as needed. Slowly dribble the beaten egg mixture into the soup, gently stirring in a circular motion to create thin strands of cooked egg. Divide the soup between soup bowls, sprinkle with green onion, and serve.
Note 1: About four to six boneless, skinless chicken thighs, depending on size, should yield the amount needed here.
Note 2: Two large cobs of corn, after shucking and cutting the kernels off the cob, should yield the 2 cups needed here.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
