00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with No Water Chicken Soup.
00:08That's right, I decided to find out if you can really make chicken soup with no water,
00:12and I'm happy to report the answer is yes, especially if you use the new and improved
00:17techniques I'm about to show you, which not only creates a better tasting broth, but much
00:22more of it.
00:23And to get started, let's go through our selection of some wonderfully watery vegetation.
00:28And for this, we're going to need some kind of cabbage, and I'm using Napa, but green
00:33cabbage or Savoy cabbage will also work.
00:36And then for my version of this, I also like to include some escarole, which hopefully you
00:40enjoyed in our recent Beans and Greens video.
00:42And then we'll definitely also need some onion, and besides this giant yellow onion, I'm going
00:47to use a big old leek.
00:49We will also include an apple for moisture and sweetness, as well as some sliced fresh
00:53ginger root, which is a very common addition in this soup.
00:57And then besides all that, I'm going to include a few things that aren't in the
01:00classic versions, including mushrooms, which are delicious and have a high water
01:05content.
01:06And then finally, I like to add some diced celery and carrot, because chicken soup.
01:11And what we'll do to get this going is add some olive oil to the bottom of our Dutch
01:15oven, which I'm going to set over medium-high heat.
01:18And we'll go ahead and transfer in our onion and leek, along with our salt, and we'll give
01:23that a quick stir.
01:25And as soon as this mixture gets hot and starts to steam, and it's looking a little something
01:30like this, we'll go ahead and cover it tightly.
01:33And we'll cook that for about 10 minutes to give it a head start.
01:36Very classically, everything's thrown in the pot at once, but I think the soup does taste
01:40better if you start this way, although I can't prove it.
01:44And that's it.
01:4510 minutes later, we'll take off the lid, making sure every drop of condensation goes
01:49back into the pot.
01:51And at this point, we can transfer in our carrots and our celery and our mushrooms, which
01:56again are optional.
01:58But I think they work really, really well in this.
02:00And then I'm going to transfer in the apple, which I peeled and diced, although you really
02:05don't have to.
02:06And then we'll finish by transferring in our cabbage, and if we're using it, our escarole.
02:12And by the way, I'm using about twice as many vegetables as most recipes use, since I want
02:17to make sure I end up with a lot of broth.
02:19And at this point, you're probably thinking, that all sounds great, but where is the chicken
02:23going to go?
02:24Well, don't worry.
02:25What we'll do is press this down with our hand and cover it back up, and we'll let it
02:30cook for another 10 minutes, or until those vegetables have collapsed enough, where we can
02:34fit our chicken in.
02:35And again, when we take the lid off, make sure every drop of moisture is going back into
02:39the pot, since we don't want to be wasting any of that on the stove.
02:44And what we'll do is give this a quick stir.
02:46And as you can see, even after this relatively brief amount of cooking, we've already produced
02:52a good amount of liquid.
02:53And more importantly, we can now make a space in the center, in which we will place our whole
02:59chicken.
03:00And for me, an extra large chicken is the way to go.
03:03Alright, there's an old saying I just made up, which is, the bigger the chicken, the better
03:07the soup.
03:08And this monster was about 5 pounds, but use a smaller one if you want.
03:13I mean, you are, after all, the Henry David Thoreau of making soup with no H2O.
03:18But no matter the size, we will top that with a generous sprinkling of salt, as well as a
03:24nice sprinkling of cayenne, which of course helps keep us young.
03:28And then we'll finish up by laying our sliced ginger over the top, which you can, if you
03:33want, just mix in with the vegetables.
03:35But I'm going to go with the more visually appealing approach.
03:38And that's it.
03:39We'll cover this up and reduce our heat to low.
03:41And we'll let that simmer gently untouched for one and a half hours.
03:45Depending, of course, on the size of your chicken.
03:48Okay, a smaller one might be ready in an hour.
03:50And if everything goes according to plan, when we take off the lid, our chicken should
03:55be perfectly cooked.
03:56And we should be looking at a shocking amount of beautiful broth.
04:00Oh yeah, look at that.
04:02I mean, is this a recipe or a magic trick?
04:05Well, that's a trick question because it's both.
04:08And just a heads up, if you cook a chicken this big, this gently, this long, and you don't
04:14stir it, which I didn't, the juices near the cavity are going to have like a pink tinge.
04:18But do not be concerned, since this all gets stirred together when we serve, and that color
04:23is going to even out, and we're at a temperature where everything is going to be perfectly safe.
04:28And at this point, we should probably grab a spoon and give this a taste for salt.
04:33And I'm happy to report mine was perfect.
04:35Or it will be after I serve and garnish.
04:38Oh, and speaking of juices, I almost forgot.
04:41There's often a pocket of rendered juices between the thigh and the cavity.
04:45So I like to carefully push the tongs right through that joint, so we can release any of
04:49that trap goodness.
04:51And that's it.
04:52To serve, we'll simply pull off some meat and serve it with as much broth and veggies
04:56as we want.
04:57But before I do that, I'm going to have a little chef snack.
05:01And yes, as you could probably see, that meat retains a little bit of pinkness also,
05:05which again is perfectly safe.
05:08So tell grandma to relax.
05:10And besides being perfectly cooked and having a moist, tender texture, the flavors and aromas
05:15of all the other ingredients have permeated the meat.
05:18And above and beyond the not using water thing, this is just a really nice way to cook chicken.
05:23And of course, make some of the best broth you've probably ever had.
05:27And then let me go ahead and show you my favorite way to enjoy this.
05:30And then I'll show you my wife Michelle's favorite way to enjoy this.
05:33But what I like to do, after transferring some meat and broth into a bowl, is to add a nice
05:39splash of rice vinegar for a little tanginess, plus a splash of soy sauce, which is why we
05:45want to be careful when we salt the actual broth.
05:48And then I like to finish up with a spoon of sambal chili sauce, followed by a pinch of
05:53freshly sliced green onions.
05:55And I'm going to give that a stir before digging in.
05:58And that, my friends, is just a tremendous bowl of chicken soup.
06:02And like I mentioned, we did add a ton of veggies, which produced a ton of broth.
06:07But if you're okay with less broth, and you want something with a stronger chicken flavor,
06:11you can just simply add in half the amounts of the veggies.
06:15So this really is just a technique I'm showing you.
06:18And you're supposed to take this idea and run with it.
06:20And create your own amazing versions.
06:23So that is the official Chef John way to eat this.
06:26But for something a little fancier, a little more sophisticated, a little more elevated,
06:32let me show you Michelle's favorite version.
06:34And for that, we'll take a bowl with some ginger, garlic, green onion, and sambal.
06:38And we'll stir in some rice vinegar and soy to create a beautifully vibrant, somewhat spicy
06:44dipping sauce.
06:45And what we'll do is serve that alongside, so we can enjoy our broth as is.
06:51And then we'll use a fork or chopsticks to dip our meat into the sauce.
06:54And basically eat that separately.
06:57And I have to admit, that really is a fantastic way to enjoy this.
07:01And if I had to pick one, and I was really trying to impress my guests,
07:05even though it's a little more work, I'd probably go with this style.
07:08Oh, and before we sign off, if one of your kids is stuck for something to do for the science
07:12fair,
07:13this might not be a bad idea.
07:15I'm sure there's all kinds of different scientific phenomenon you could demonstrate with this.
07:20I mean, a vinegar baking soda volcano is cool, but you can't eat it once you're done.
07:25Oh yeah, you only make that mistake once.
07:28But anyway, no matter how you serve this,
07:30making a gorgeous and delicious chicken soup without water is a thing.
07:34And we really do hope you give this a try soon.
07:38So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
07:41a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
07:45And as always, enjoy.
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