Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television

- Lots of texture here, lots of different flavors and a deep foundation.

That's the way chicken soup ought to be.

- It's warm, it's comforting.

You get a bite of the ricotta meatball, and you get that burst of the cheesy flavor coming through.

- This broth comes together with just three ingredients and water.

So you can't really go wrong with a meal that comes together in under an hour.

- You know, I've always said, if you want to really understand a culture, just check out their chicken soup.

So, in fact, we traveled the world to find three great examples of this recipe.

We start in Mexico City with a caldo tlalpeo.

Then we do a chicken soup with ricotta dumplings from Calabria, southern Italy.

And we finish with a simple dish of chicken and rice noodles in ginger hoisin broth.

Please stay tuned.

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- (speaking Spanish): (sizzling) (birds chirping) - So I love chicken soup.

I love chicken soup because it tells you a lot about the culture it comes from.

And in Mexico, which is where we're going today, they make caldo tlalpeo, which is a Mexican chicken soup.

We learned this from Josefina Lpez Mndez.

She has a restaurant called Chapuln in Mexico City.

We went to her home, actually, for her to teach us this recipe.

Now, what I love about this recipe is it creates a lot of foundational flavor, and it uses a technique that's true for a lot of Mexican recipes.

It starts with a blender.

So we'll take the blender.

We'll take tomatoes, onions.

And so many salsas in Mexican recipes start in a blender, by the way.

We have a couple of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, a few peeled smashed garlic cloves.

We also have one bunch of cilantro, where we chopped off the stems and then chopped up the stems to use in this part of the recipe.

We'll use the leaves to finish.

And then we'll just process this.

(blender whirring) We'll use that in a few minutes.

Now we're going to start with the chicken, and we're going to turn this heat up a little bit, put some oil in.

I like to use a lot of extra oil in this, and let me explain why.

So when chicken or any protein hits hot metal, metal and protein fuse together, and then you get stuck chicken parts.

There are two ways to solve that problem.

One is to put a fair amount of oil in, because the oil provides a layer between the protein and the metal.

The other is, if the oil is hot enough, the water in the protein and the chicken steams.

And that steam also provides a little bit of a cushion, a layer between the food and the pan.

So the oil looks nice and hot.

There we are.

(sizzling) So the rule is don't mess with the chicken for the first few minutes.

It'll eventually release, but in the first five or six minutes, it's still going to stick to the pan a little bit.

So we'll cook this about ten minutes to get a nice browning on the skin, take it off, and then saut the salsa we just made in the blender.

So the chicken skin is brown; we only cooked it on one side.

And we'll take the sauce.

And this is what I mentioned about a classic Mexican technique.

Once you make a salsa... (sizzling) Then you cook it, give it some heat, and that develops flavor.

So even though supermarket tomatoes that we all know have very little flavor, putting it in with the onions, a couple of the chipotles in adobo sauce, and then cooking it down till it's a little thicker and also using some of the fat from the chicken really gives you a great foundation for this recipe.

So it's a simple technique, but it's really a classic technique in a lot of Mexican recipes.

So it's been reduced for about six minutes.

A spatula through the middle leaves a trail.

We're going to put the chicken back.

I'm going to put the skin side up.

And we have two quarts-- eight cups-- of chicken stock.

So everything is ready to go, we're going to cook the chicken.

You want to temp the chicken with an instant read thermometer.

We're talking maybe 170 or so for the thighs here, for the dark meat.

One tip is once you bring it up to a simmer and cover it, you should check it three or four times during that half hour, because you're going to need to reduce the heat a couple of times to maintain a very gentle simmer.

So we're going to take out the last two pieces of chicken that are cooked.

By the way, very often in recipes we like cooking with dark meat, with thighs and legs.

It's kind of hard to overcook them, which makes that great.

So now we're going to work on the rice.

We're going to take two-and-a- quarter cups of this stock, this cooking liquid, and put it into another pan.

So that's two cups and a quarter.

And now we're going to cook the rice.

So the basis of the soup, when we serve it, we'll start with rice, and then everything else goes on top.

So we'll bring this up to a simmer.

We'll put the top on, reduce the heat.

You want to get the heat really pretty low for rice, as you know, and we'll cook that 15, 18 minutes until the rice is done.

Meanwhile, we have the chicken and we're going to remove the skin and shred it.

And that chicken will be added to the recipe sort of close to the end.

So now it's time for the vegetable part of this dish.

We have two-- we have green beans and zucchini.

I'm just going to cut off the ends.

I'm going to quarter them lengthwise.

I'm going to cut them across in quarter-inch pieces.

Okay.

So we want to cook these vegetables till they're-- I don't like the term al dente, but they have a little bit of bite to them because we're going to finish cooking them with the chicken.

So we don't want to do all the cooking right now.

So the vegetables are now almost cooked, and we're going to add back the chicken that I already have shredded.

Warm it up.

And we had a bunch of cilantro to start with.

The stems went into the salsa.

We're going to take the leaves and put about half of them in now.

The rest we can use for garnishing individual servings, and we'll let that just heat through.

So the rice is cooked.

Once it was cooked, we took it off heat.

And we like to put a kitchen towel over the top.

That absorbs some of the steam, so the steam doesn't go back into the rice.

We want to keep it really fluffy, So we're going to build a bowl now.

We'll start with some rice.

So now the soup.

That looks like a pretty good helping.

So now the toppings-- obviously avocado goes on.

And one of the nice things about this soup is the toppings, because you get fresh flavor, you get this-- habanero salsa.

Habaneros are hot.

They're over 100,000 on the Scoville scale, which is 20 to 30 times hotter than a jalapeno.

So I'm just going to add a little bit of that in there.

So this is queso fresco, obviously a little lime.

And we have some of the remaining leaves, cilantro leaves.

So that's our Mexican chicken soup, caldo tlalpeo.

Thanks to Josefina Lpez Mndez.

Lots of texture here, lots of different flavors, and a deep foundation.

And that's the way chicken soup ought to be.

- It's probably safe to say that everyone has encountered chicken soup at some point in their lives, and every region of the world has their own version of it.

Within those regions, there are endless varieties.

The version we're making today, our chicken soup with ricotta dumplings, originates in Italy, where they make a very simple, clear chicken broth, homemade, and they float in it these billowy, herb-flecked ricotta dumplings.

So we are also going to make a very quick homemade broth.

But first we'll make the ricotta mixture for the dumplings, because that needs a little bit of time to sit in the refrigerator and firm up.

Every dumpling of this sort has a little bit of a binder in it.

We're using fresh bread for our binder because fresh bread binds these very delicate dumplings a little bit better than dried breadcrumbs.

We'll break the bread up, put it into the food processor.

You can use any sort of country style white bread you have around.

You can even use bread that's a little bit stale.

Now, to the breadcrumbs in the processor, we're going to add a little bit of pecorino Romano cheese.

Just break it up into chunks and put it in the processor.

If you don't have pecorino, you can use parmesan.

We'll turn this on and let it process until it's fine crumbs.

(processor whirring) That's good.

We have our cheesy breadcrumbs ready to go.

Next, we'll add the ricotta cheese.

We have a cup of ricotta.

This is a whole milk ricotta cheese by the way.

Avoid the part skim low fat cheeses if you can.

And we're going to add a couple of egg yolks to this.

They're also a binder, a little bit, and they add richness to the dumplings.

We'll add half a teaspoon each, salt and pepper.

And then we'll grate some fresh nutmeg over this.

Good.

So we'll let this process until it's completely smooth.

It'll take about one minute.

(processor whirring) Okay, so we are at the right texture now.

It's smooth.

You can see that there's some softness to it, but it holds well on the spoon.

If I turn the spoon over, it should drop off eventually.

So I'm going to transfer this to a bowl, cover it with plastic, and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Not only does the mixture firm up a little bit, but it gives the breadcrumbs time to hydrate.

And actually everything hydrates evenly and becomes one smooth mixture.

You can also do this up to 24 hours ahead if you want.

So if you want to make these a day before you serve the soup, you can do that, too.

While our ricotta mixture is in the refrigerator chilling, we'll begin with a very simple homemade broth.

You might recognize this vegetable trio of carrots, onions, and celery.

You notice they're in big chunks, which is all you need to do because they are going to be removed from the broth later.

Get those in the pot.

We're going to reinforce the broth using chicken thighs.

And we chose thighs because we're going to put the meat back into the broth a little bit later when we serve the soup.

They also have a little more flavor than breasts, so they'll help flavor the broth and intensify it.

We have a trick that we use frequently here at Milk Street.

And we use a purchased chicken broth, and what we're doing by adding the vegetables and the chicken to it is we're layering on extra flavor.

If you don't have chicken broth, you can certainly use water for this.

Just nestle the chicken in until it's fully submerged.

We will bring this to a full simmer over a medium-high heat.

Then we'll turn the heat down to low and cover the pot and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

We just want to make sure the chicken is fully cooked and tender enough to fall away from the bone, and you can insert a skewer and test for that.

You want no resistance.

Our broth has been simmering for 45 minutes.

The chicken is very tender.

The vegetables are very soft.

Oh, the smell is wonderful.

So I'll remove the chicken thighs to a bowl and just let them cool down a little bit.

We'll shred that meat off the bone a little bit later.

And then we'll scoop out the vegetables.

Now, this is another benefit of leaving the vegetables in large chunks is that you can scoop them out with a spoon instead of straining the broth.

Okay, so we'll let this sit while we make the dumplings.

This is our ricotta cheese mixture, well chilled.

I'm going to scoop a generous tablespoon of this mixture, which is going to form our dumplings.

You can use either a measuring spoon or if you have a small scooper, this makes the work a little quicker.

Okay, going to scoop them onto a piece of parchment.

You should get about 16 little balls.

By the way, in Italy, these are called polpette di ricotta.

The term polpette is frequently associated with the word for meatballs, but actually polpette refers to the shape of the ball itself.

Now, these dumplings, as we've said, are very, very delicate.

We're going to give them a very light coating of flour just on the outside to help them stay together a little as they simmer in the hot broth.

So I'll pick these up one at a time and delicately smooth the edges, drop them into the flour, roll them around to coat them, and then pick it up and shake off the excess flour.

You don't want a ton of flour on them, just a light coating on the outside.

Once these are fully coated in flour, we will put them back into the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to an hour.

And while those finish chilling and getting set, we will wash our hands and then come back and shred the chicken.

Okay, now that our three simple components of our simple soup are ready to go, we can assemble the soup.

This is important.

You want the broth to never rise above a low simmer.

These are very delicate dumplings, and if the broth is boiling away too vigorously, it will cause them to break apart.

And then we'll add all the dumplings to the broth.

Add them very gently.

I'm using a spoon to lower them into the broth rather than dropping them in.

That protects me as much as it does the dumplings.

Then we'll put the cover on.

This only takes about ten minutes for them to cook.

But when they're done, you'll know that when they float to the surface, and they will also expand a little bit while they cook.

The dumplings have risen to the top.

They are very lightly expanded, and we will remove them very gently.

They're a little slumpy at this point.

We'll put them directly into the serving bowls.

I'm only serving myself right now, so I'll give myself four dumplings and let those sit for about five minutes to let them continue to firm up and finish cooking.

For the rest of the dumplings, these need to be removed from the broth as well, because if you leave them in, they'll overcook and they will start falling apart.

These have a couple more minutes to finish firming up, and then we will assemble the rest of the soup and taste.

All right, our dumplings are ready.

What we like to do with this is leave the chicken separate from the broth.

Then everyone can serve themselves however much chicken they want or no chicken at all.

We'll place that right on top of the dumplings, add a little sprinkle of parsley, Then we'll ladle over the hot broth, Which will finish warming everything evenly.

And, of course, never too much to sprinkle a little extra cheese on top.

Oh, it's rich, it's warm, it's comforting.

You get a bite of the ricotta meatball and you get that burst of the cheesy flavor coming through.

These dumplings are very, very delicate.

They're meant to be that way.

This is our chicken soup with ricotta dumplings, inspired by the simple cooking of Italy.

So today we're going to be making a chicken and rice noodle in a ginger hoisin broth.

And hoisin is one of my favorite pantry staples because it adds so much flavor in so little time.

This broth comes together with just three ingredients and water, so you can't really go wrong with a meal that comes together in under an hour.

So to start it off, we are going to use a little bit of neutral oil, about two tablespoons worth.

And once it starts shimmering, I'm going to add my aromatics.

So I've got about a three-inch knob of ginger here, and I'm slicing it thin because I want to keep it in.

It's got to stay in the broth to keep it nice and flavorful and add that beautiful gingery, spicy depth.

Then I've got a couple of shallots sliced thin as well.

Shallots are a little bit milder than some onions, and this will give a nice dimension to our broth.

So I'm going to start with my ginger.

And all my shallots are going in as well, So I'm going to let these cook for a couple of minutes, just until I get a little bit of browning.

So while that's cooking up, let's talk about hoisin sauce for a second.

It really is kind of versatile, and I'm adding my hoisin sauce in early because I want it to kind of brown a bit, get more intense as it sticks to the bottom.

Let's mix this around a bit.

(sizzling) And you'll see right off that it's starting to stick to the bottom pretty early on.

You want a little bit more of a crust to form with the sauce.

So I've been letting this cook for about two or three minutes and it's starting to stick to the bottom, make a nice little crust on the bottom here.

And this is the point where I'm going to add my water to both deglaze and create the rest of my broth.

Go slow.

(water sizzles) So I am going to bring this up to a simmer, and then I'm going to add my chicken.

For this one, I've taken the skins off.

I just want the thigh and the bone here.

And then as my soup finishes, I'll be able to pull the bones out and shred my chicken so it's super tender.

We are getting up to a simmer because things are happening in here.

It's magical.

And I'm using my spatula to break up anything that has kind of stuck on the bottom so it can continue to flavor my soup.

All right, I feel good about this.

So I'm just going to slide my chicken thighs in.

So now that you're up to a simmer and your chicken's in, you want to make sure that this simmers for at least 35 minutes, because you want the chicken to be super tender and able to pull away from the bone easily when we're about to serve.

So my broth has been cooking for about 35 minutes or so.

The chicken is actually cooked through, and I'm going to remove it and move it over to my plate over here.

I'm gonna keep my broth, you know, off the heat while I'm doing this.

I'm gonna wait until they're a little cooler so I can shred them easily and handle the meat.

You can see that the broth is reduced a little bit.

It looks really good, smells really good.

You've got a little bit of the chicken fat on top, making it extra delicious.

So the nice thing about chicken when you cook it in a broth is that it comes to part really, really easily.

I'm just going to use my fork and pull it apart.

This way, I can pull away the bone, and the meat in the soup is all boneless, cooked, tender, wonderful.

So I'm going to add this back to my broth just to make sure that my chicken is warm and heated through nicely.

But that shouldn't take long.

Stir it up.

So I have some rice noodles that I've cooked along to the package instructions.

You can use vermicelli here.

You can use udon, whatever you like.

So I'm just going to ladle a little bit of this broth over top.

You've got the good pieces of ginger in there, Got some of those shallots.

Now, while this looks pretty enough to eat on its own, I'm going to add a little bit more to make it look nice, make it taste nicer.

I've got a little bit of lime juice for acid that I'm just going to squeeze on then I'm going to throw my lime in there.

I'm going to tear up some basil just to add some herbaceousness and goodness.

And you can use other kinds of herbs if you like them here.

I just happen to like basil.

No good bowl of deeply flavorful chicken soup is complete without a little bit of hot sauce too.

So I'm going to add a little dollop on my chicken.

And there, in less than an hour, you have it.

You have a beautiful chicken and rice noodle soup in a ginger hoisin broth that was made with just a few ingredients, came together in no time at all.

And I hope you enjoy.

For this recipe and all of the recipes from this season of Milk Street TV, head over to MilkStreeTV.com.

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- Funding for this series was provided by the following.

- That meal.

You sauted, you seared, and you served, cooking with All-Clad, bonded cookware designed, engineered, and assembled in the U.S.A. for over 50 years.

All-Clad: for all your kitchen adventures.