Name: Chicken and Mustard Greens Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 4 to 5 chicken backs ((necks will also work)); 2 shallots; 1 one-inch knob ginger; 2 tablespoons cooking oil ((coconut oil give this soup the best flavors)); fish sauce (to taste); 1 big bunch mustard greens

Chicken and Mustard Greens Soup

Connie Veneracion

A rustic soup made with very few ingredients. Use bony parts of the chicken, the freshest mustard leaves and ginger, and the best quality fish sauce for best results.

Inspired by a recipe I saw on Andrea Nguyen's Viet World Kitchen which includes tofu but does not list ginger among the ingredients, I decided to add ginger because mustard greens in the Philippines are more bitter than their Vietnamese siblings and I wanted another strong flavor to balance the bitterness.

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Course Soup

Cuisine Vietnamese

Servings people

Ingredients

4 to 5 chicken backs (necks will also work)
2 shallots
1 one-inch knob ginger
2 tablespoons cooking oil (coconut oil give this soup the best flavors)
fish sauce to taste
1 big bunch mustard greens

Instructions

If using chicken backs, chop each into two to three pieces. Pat dry with paper towels.
Peel and thinly slice the shallots.
Peel and slice the ginger.
Heat the cooking oil in a pot.
Saute the shallots and ginger until softened and lightly browned, about five minutes over medium-low heat. Push to the sides of the pot.
Spread the chicken pieces on the bottom of the pot and turn up the heat to medium-high. Leave the chicken for a minute to allow the undersides to brown. Flip to brown the opposite sides.
Drizzle in two tablespoons of fish sauce. Continue cooking until the fish sauce has been absorbed by the chicken.
Pour in about six cups of water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot and let the chicken simmer for 20 minutes or so.
While the chicken simmers, rinse the mustard greens and shake off excess water. Cut off the root ends and discard. If the leaves are rather large, cut them into halves.
Taste the broth and add more fish sauce, if needed.
Drop the mustard greens into the pot. Press them down into the broth to soften. Continue simmering the chicken with the mustard greens for another five to seven minutes.
Give the broth a final taste and stir in more fish sauce if still rather bland before serving the chicken and mustard greens soup.

Keyword Chicken Soup

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