comfort chicken soup for a fuzzy head..

I've succumbed to the dreaded winter cold, the one where your head feels foggy, and your nose & throat are making you feel crappy and miserable.

This is the one thing I always make for my family when we are sick - the good old chicken and corn soup.

This recipe is from my Mum's 'Women's Weekly Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook' which is about 25 years old. An oldie but a goodie!

If you would like to make it, it's super easy.

In a large pot add a small chicken or chicken pieces (1kg), cover with water.

Add an onion, cut into quarters, some parsley, a few peppercorns, some slices of fresh ginger and bit of salt.  Bring to boil and simmer for an hour, covered, skimming the top of any scum if needed. After an hour,

drain the chicken stock into another large pot and put the chicken aside to cool. (Discard the onion,parsley & ginger used to make the stock).

To the chicken stock add a can of creamed corn, a teaspoon of chicken stock powder, 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger, salt, pepper and a splash of sesame oil. Stir well.

Mix 4 tablespoons of cornflour with 4 tablespoons of water in a small jug, add to soup, stir until soup boils & thickens (about a minute).  Take 1 or 2 eggs (the recipe says egg whites, but I use the whole egg to save wasting the yolk).  Put in the small jug with 2 tbspns water and beat lightly.

Using one hand to stir the soup with a wooden spoon, pour the eggs slowly from the jug with the other hand, adding to the soup in a thin stream, stirring well.

Remove the meat from the chicken bones and add to soup. (You can shred chicken finely or make it chunky). Season to taste with salt, pepper, and I like to use a bit more ginger & sesame oil.

I hope that doesn't sound too hard - you need about 1 1/2 hours to make it, but it's the yummiest soup when you're not feeling well.  (Even better if someone can make it for you. Unfortunately I'm the only one who does the cooking in our house).

I need to get better soon so I can enjoy the school holidays and take the kids out & about.  They've been really good, quite content to make cubbies in their bedrooms, which has given me some peace and quiet. And I have some new custom orders to make, which always makes me feel cheerier.