this is the real chicken soup for the soul
I made the best soup today and while usually I don't give out the whole recipe so that I remain both mysterious and useful I'm gonna do it today so here y'all go
(this makes like, A Lot of soup so adjust accordingly) (I only know how to make A Lot of soup)
5 chicken breasts, seared well on both sides for that nice maillard reaction and cut into chunks
5 lemons, zested + juiced
(basically, one lemon per one chicken breast)
2 large white onions, julienned
2 shallots, diced fine
3 stalks of celery, diced fine
½ cup white wine
2 big spoonfuls of chicken base paste, so like? ½ cup?
1 gallon water
s&p to taste
enough cornstarch to thicken and hold everything in suspension like some kind of space food
toss vegetables in s&p and sweat in large stockpot until soft, add the lemon zest at this point
deglaze bottom of the pot with the wine and lemon juice and add the chicken. depending on the size of the pot you're cooking in, the liquid should just barely cover everything
add the chicken base paste and dissolve, then add the gallon of water
once it comes to a boil, make a slurry with the cornstarch and cold water (should be thick, the less water you add here the better) and add while stirring constantly. this prevents lumps of starch because those are Bad and this is a soup with only Good
you're all set! add some green onion or some hot sauce or whatever butters your biscuit, it's your soup now
and that's it! it's hearty and slurp-able, great for cold months because of all the lemon, and it's easy and freezes so well
and if you want to make a vegetarian/vegan version just substitute veg base and your protein of choice and it's still just as good, now go and feed yourselves
