An Exaltation of Soups (8 page)
Read An Exaltation of Soups Online
Authors: Patricia Solley
HINA
CHICKEN SOUP WITH GINGER OR SESAME OIL
GEE
T
ONG
Serves a new mother for 1 week, or 6 to 8
S
INCE ANCIENT TIMES
until today—and no matter in what province of China—a daily dose of chicken soup for one month is prescribed for new mothers. Why chicken soup? Because it is yang—and new mothers, like the chronically fatigued, need to be warmed up, bucked up, and have their blood loss replenished. In eastern provinces, this soup is flavored with ginger; in southern provinces, it’s given a shot of sesame oil. It is prepared by the “double boiling method,” which makes the soup a kind of essence. It doesn’t at all taste—or look—like “regular” chicken stock, that’s for sure. This is truly the champagne of chicken elixirs: pale gold in color, pure in taste.
1 whole chicken, 3 to 3½ pounds, or 4 pounds chicken backs and wings, fat removed, washed in cold water, drained, and cut through the bones into about 12 pieces
½ pound chicken feet, nails removed
8 cups (2 quarts) boiling water
3 cups sliced green onions, green parts only (in 2-inch lengths)
6 whole peppercorns
10 slices fresh ginger, the size of a quarter, smashed with the flat side of a knife, or 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
O
P
REPARE
1. In a large soup pot, bring at least 8 cups of water to a rolling boil. Drop in the chicken pieces and blanch them for 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain the chicken, discarding the water, then rinse the chicken in cold water and drain again.
2. Prep the remaining ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
O
C
OOK
1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Bring a large kettle of water to a boil.
2. Place the chicken pieces and feet, 8 cups of boiling water, green onions, peppercorns, and either the ginger pieces or sesame oil in a Dutch oven. Seal the top with heavy-duty aluminum foil, then cover with a heavy lid.
3. Place the pot into a deep baking pan, then fill the baking pan with enough boiling water to reach about 2 inches up the side of the Dutch oven.
4. Bake for 2 to 3 hours, adding boiling water to the baking pan as necessary to keep the oven filled with steam.
5. Remove the Dutch oven from the water bath, unseal it, and skim the top of the broth to remove any impurities and fat. Strain the soup through a colander, then through a sieve that has been lined with moistened cheesecloth. Reserve any meaty chicken pieces. Stir the salt into the broth.
O
S
ERVE
Ladle the soup into a serving bowl. At this point, if you are making the southern variation, you can whisk in a few more drops of sesame oil, if your new mother likes it. Then add a piece of the chicken meat and serve. For the rest of the week, reheat the broth and chicken pieces in a sealed pot in a 375°F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until piping hot—this will keep the broth clear.
T
HE
O
NE
-M
ONTH
C
HICKEN
-S
OUP
A
NNIVERSARY
According to Chinese tradition, once a baby reaches one month of age, baby and mother are deemed “recovered” from the birthing process and they are presented to the world. Guests bring a red egg for baby, to symbolize good luck, and ginger (yang) for mom, to keep warding off evil spirits and balancing her yin. And what are party guests served for refreshments? A potent “whiskey” soup, bursting with rare ingredients—and chicken.
L
I
P
O
C
ELEBRATES
C
HILDREN AND
C
HICKEN
S
OUP
Here in the mountains in autumn-tide
Of new-brewed wine and yellow chick fattened on grain
,
I call the boy to boil the fowl and pour the white wine
,
While my children, playing noisily about, tug me by the sleeve.
I sing and imbibe the bland ecstasy of the cup;
I rise and dance in the tangled beams of the setting sun.
—L
I
P
O
,
eighth-century T’ang dynasty poet and Taoist bon vivant
RANCE
“BOILED WATER” GARLIC SOUP
PROVENÇAL
L
’
AÏGO BOULIDO
Serves 4
R
EPUTEDLY A
F
RENCH
elixir for convalescents and birthing mothers—and a godsend for those with hangovers—this delicate soup is almost unexplainably comforting. It’s very soft, and the fragrances of the herbed broth and fruity olive oil help the tender bread sop and cheese slip right down to comfort a tight stomach. It’s also traditionally part of
Le gros souper
, the meatless meal in Provence taken on Christmas eve before Midnight Mass.
Thin slices of day-old French bread, 1 to 3 per person, depending on size (they should fill the bottom surface of the soup plate you are using)
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups (1 quart) water
Salt to taste
24 garlic cloves, sliced lengthwise (tradition says to remove any green sprouts from the garlic centers, but I don’t think it’s worth the trouble. Today’s green sprouts aren’t bitter as they were in days past)
2 bay leaves
1 sprig sage (if you use dried sage, tie 1 teaspoon of it in a cheesecloth bag so you can easily remove it from the broth)
Grated Gruyère cheese, for garnish
O
P
REPARE
1. Brush the bread slices with olive oil and toast in a 350°F. oven until dry, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
2. Prep the remaining ingredients as directed in the recipe list.
O
C
OOK
1. In a large saucepan, combine the water, salt, garlic, bay
leaves, and sage. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes or until the garlic is very soft.
2. Remove the bay leaves and sage sprig, and puree the soup in a blender. Pour it back into the pan, cover, and let steep until you are ready to serve it, at least 10 minutes.
O
S
ERVE
Heat your soup plates in the oven for a few minutes, then layer their bottoms with the toasted bread slices. Sprinkle the toast with the cheese, then with any remaining olive oil. Reheat the soup to a boil, ladle it over the toast, and serve immediately.
“T
HE
Y
OUNG
M
OTHER
”
The young mother, in the cheeks of the little child she is holding, breathes in her own purest substance. She presses him to her so that he shall remain always herself. She embraces the being she has made. She forgets and rejoices at having given herself, since she has retrieved and found herself again in the tender contact of the intoxicating freshness of his flesh. And vainly those beautiful hands squeeze the fruit she has formed, she feels herself pure, through and through, and like a virgin fulfilled….
She is not sure whether the center of the universe is in her heart or in this little heart that is beating in her arms and that, in its turn, brings all things to life.
—P
AUL
V
ALERY
,
twentieth-century French poet-philosopher
H
EADY
G
ARLIC
The English poet Thomas Nash, in
The Unfortunate Traveller
(1594), describes garlic as making “a man winke, drinke and stinke.” Alexander Dumas
pere
, in his
Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine
, remarks, “Everybody knows the odor garlic except the one who has eaten it and wonders why everybody turns away from him.” These truisms have been updated in a New York City saying that goes: “A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.”
APAN
CABBAGE AND CLAM MISO SOUP
KYABETSU TO ASARI NO MISOSHIRU
Serves 4
R
EPUTED TO PRODUCE
good breast milk after the birth of a child, this soup is both hearty and delicate, with many layers of flavor delivered in every spoonful. It can be served at any meal.
Shirumono—
a classic thick miso soup—is a traditional breakfast food in Japan served with rice and salted pickles; it is also served with three-dish meals at lunch and dinner, often ending the meal with rice and salt pickled vegetables. This recipe was generously given to me by Yukari Odegawa, my dear friend in Kamioka who introduced me to the pleasures of both Japanese food and Kabuki theater. The soup is fragrant and tasty, the earthiness of miso setting off the sea saltiness of the clams and the fiber of the greens. It’s so pleasant to eat with chopsticks, bit by bit, then drink the broth directly from the bowl.
