Hot & Sour Soup with Ginger Chicken
There are so many kinds of hot and sour soups in the world, and this one takes inspiration from one of my favourite Seychellois bouyon: Bouyon blan. Traditionally made with fish - especially fish head and bones, I made the same broth base and swapped the protein out for chicken marinated in some turmeric and ginger.
The ‘hot’ comes from the fruity scotch bonnet, and the sour comes from the seasoning: lots of lime, tomatoes and fish sauce.
This recipe is in paid partnership with Borough Broth - my most used and trusted broth. Slow-cooked with gentle flavouring, perfect to help build the base of the soup.
Serves: 4
Prep/Cook Time: 25-30 mins
Ingredients
For the chicken:
4 Boneless Chicken Thighs
1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
5g Ginger, finely grated/minced
For the Broth:
10g Coriander, leaves picked, stems thinly sliced
3 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
4 Springs Fresh Thyme
2 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
5g Ginger, finely grated/minced
2 Vine Tomatoes, cut into 2-3cm wedges
1 Tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Scotch Bonnet
700ml Borough Broth Chicken Broth
500g Cooked Rice
Fish Sauce, to taste
2 Limes
Method:
Make sure your rice is cooked before starting.
Marinate the chicken: Add the turmeric into a bowl with the ginger. Drizzle with a touch of oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Place a saucepan with a drizzle of oil onto medium heat. Once hot, add all the coriander stems, spring onion, and thyme stalks, cook stirring, until softened, 2-3 mins. Stir the garlic, ginger, tomatoes and tomato puree until the mixture turns a dark red colour, 7-10 mins.
Poke a few holes in the scotch bonnet, or halve it if you like heat. Drop it into the saucepan and pour over the chicken broth. Let the mixture come to the bowl, then lower the heat down to a gentle simmer. Before serving, taste and season with salt, fish sauce and lots of lime juice - it should be hot and sour.
Meanwhile, place the chicken, skin side down into a cold frying pan. Place over medium heat and cook until the skin is golden and crisp, 7-10 mins, before flipping to fully cook through.
Reheat the rice and share between bowls. Ladle the broth over and serve the chicken thigh over the top, crispy skin side up. Finish with a sprinkling of coriander leaves.
