A Brief on the Origin of Chicken Soup

What makes a Chicken Soup?

Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken. It is usually simmered in water with various other ingredients. The exemplary soup comprises of a clear chicken broth along with a few pieces of chicken or vegetables, supplemented generally by noodles, dumplings, pasta, or cereal crops like rice and barley. The soup has attained the stature of an antidote for cold and cough, and in many provinces, it is appraised as comfort food.

What is its origin Chicken Soup?

 Boiling food was already a tradition at the time of acclimatization of chicken in the stone-age period, so boiling chicken in order to make soup was a common practice. The soup, very dearly consumed by Americans generally includes rooted vegetables like onion, carrot, and celery. It was a standard meal in the Northern parts of Europe and was ushered to the United States by foreign nationals.

How is it prepared?

 Flavor discrepancies are formed by lending herbs such as dill, parsley, other and root vegetables such as potato, parsnip, celery, root sweet potato and other vegetables such as whole garlic cloves, zucchini, or black pepper and tomatoes into the soup. Firstly, chicken is put into a pot of water and it is stewed till the soup slowly reach to a boil and then simmered in a tucked pot on a very low flame for two-three hours. Water should be added according to requirement. A transparent broth is attained by abstracting the dripping fat from the top of the soup as it is boiling. Boiling the chicken filled liquid discards the excess water and transforms it into a thick broth before straining it through a strainer or cheesecloth. Saffron or turmeric is added as a yellow pigment. Then the chicken pieces are be shredded with the help of bare hands and stored in a container in the refrigerator and is heated before serving hot.

What ingredients are required?

  Apart from the very obvious chicken meat, condiments and a variety of vegetables and herbs are needed for its preparation.

What is its nutritional value?

Chicken soup is a moderately low fat food but still the excess fat can be extracted by freezing the soup after steaming and skimming the layer of fat coagulated at the top. A research concluded that persistent cooking of a bone in soup escalates the calcium content in the soup when cooked at an acidic and not at a neutral ph.

Scientists of the University Of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha have examined the impact of chicken soup on the fundamental response of the body in the year 2000. They established that some elements of the chicken soup suppress the neutrophil migration, which may have an anti-provoking effect that could guide to temporary relief from symptoms of ailments.

Chicken soup is often acknowledged as Jewish penicillin or as an alternative to penicillin.

How is it prepared in different cultures?

India

In India it is considered as one of the most popular snacks. There exists many varieties but Sweet Corn Chicken Soup is the most eminent. Other alternatives include Clear, Spicy Indian, Noodle and Hot and Sour Soup. The soup  is usually assisted by Bread Crumbs or boiled eggs. Road side vendors sell this popular item usually in winters.

United Kingdom

In Britain, traditionally, the soup is a watery liquid with chunks of vegetables like onion, carrot, and celery, and cubes of chicken in it, garnished with salt and pepper. However, a thicker and creamier version of it without any vegetable pieces called cream, is very much in demand today. A specific form of this type soup from Scotland which reached out to masses throughout the UK is a clear, thin broth of shredded chicken and leeks called cock-a-leekie soup.

United States and Canada

In the Northern America, it is commonly eaten with noodles or rice in it, commonly called chicken soup noodle by the folks. The term might have been appeared in a bulletin associated with the Campbell Soup Company in the year 1930. Conventionally, American chicken soup was cooked using old hens which are difficult to roast or grill for a short time. In but in modern times, broiler chickens (young chickens suitable for roasting or broiling) are often used to make delicious soups.