Corn and Chicken SoupCorn and chicken soup is a variation of the soup featured earlier. The exception is that this one features rivels (recipe included) and that adds a special something to the dish. I don't know the origin of this dish but have seen it featured in Chinese Restaurants for many years so I guess that's where it originated. One of the secrets of soup is never to serve it boiling hot. It is always better to prepare it slowly using a very gentle simmer to avoid scorching the contents. Overheating soup leads to big drop in flavor value and nutritional goodness of the ingredients, this is especially so with corn and chicken soup. Some people place a heatproof mat between the heat source and the base of the saucepan when heating soup to ensure that the heat remains gentle. - If you have a good simmer control you shouldn't need to do this. This recipe should be kept as another version of chicken and corn soup but I urge you to try it because the taste is terrific.
1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2-1/2 to 3 quarts water, or as needed to cover the chicken
1 large onion
8 to 10 black peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
8 to 10 threads of saffron, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron (optional)
10 ears of corn, or 4 cups frozen corn kernels
3 celery stalks, diced with leaves
6 ounces wide egg noodles, packaged egg barley, or Rivels (recipe follows)
Freshly ground white pepper
2/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
Method: Place chicken in soup pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and skim foam as it rises to the surface. When it has subsided, add onion, peppercorns, salt, and saffron. Simmer gently but steadily, partly covered, for about 1-1/2 hours or until tender.
Remove chicken. Trim and discard bones and skin, and onion. Let soup cool, then skim fat from surface.
Tear meat into eat size pieces and return to soup.
Cut kernels from 4 ears of corn, then grate kernels from remaining 6 ears, catching all milk and pulp on foil or waxed paper. If using frozen kernels, puree half in a food processor or blender, adding a little soup if liquid is needed. Add whole kernels and grated or pureed corn to soup along with celery and noodles, barley, or rivels. Simmer gently until corn and noodles or rivels are cooked. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in parsley and serve, garnishing each portion with chopped egg. This soup freezes well, but do that before adding the noodles, barley, or dumplings. Prepare those when reheating soup. Re-heat over gentle heat to avoid scorching. Yield: 8 to 10 first-course servings; 4 to 6 main-course servings of corn and chicken soup. Rivels –
Ingredients: 1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground white pepper
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 to 1 cup all-purpose flour, as needed
Method:
Stir salt and pepper into egg and add 2/3 cup flour and beat. Keep adding and beating in flour until mixture is crumbly but a bit sticky. Rub between hands or pinch off pea-size pieces and drop them into simmering soup. Cover loosely and let cook for about 15 minutes or until rivels solidify.
To make the rivels ahead of time, cook them in lightly salted boiling water or some extra soup stock and then drain and reserve them to be reheated in the soup just before it is served. Bon appetit. Enjoy your corn and chicken soup.
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