Pickled-Chicken Soup

          One of the joys of our recent trip to the Netherlands was my introduction to pickled-chicken soup. Now why that experience at the Rijksmuseum restaurant so impressed itself upon me, I know not. After all it was only one among countless soups made from a wide variety of ingredients. But it did impress me, so there it is. Since returning from that trip I have indulged myself - a most satisfactory enterprise - in trying to reproduce that soup. I have come up with something which, although not identical with the Dutch offering, has a certain character which was not unpleasing. Here then is a report on my culinary activity.

1.        The Pickled Chicken:-

The Marinade:

0.5 tsp of Pepper,
1 tsp of Turmeric,
1 rounded tsp of Sea Salt,
0.5 tsp of Chilli powder. (I used the relatively mild Piment d'Espelette)

Marinade 300 - 350g of white chicken meat, cut into approximately 2 - 4cm. cubes, in the refrigerator overnight. (My preferred method is to place all the ingredients in a plastic, freezer bag, working the marinade all round the chicken.)
          On the following day, add about a half-a-cup of water to a heavy-based saucepan, bring to the boil, add the chicken and its marinade and bring to the boil again. Cook for about 20 mins or until the chicken is dry. Add:

Enough vegetable oil to cover,
4 Tbsp of Garlic paste*,
4 Tbsp of Ginger paste*,

until they are cooked. Add about a third of a cup of white wine vinegar if available (I was obliged to use cider vinegar) and withdraw from the heat. Shred the chicken. Transfer everything to a sterilised jar, and seal. I do not know how long this can be stored in a fridge. (I didn't give it chance to find out!)

*  I blitz a quantity of chopped garlic, or fresh ginger, in a small food processor with enough vegetable oil drizzled in to produce a nice paste. As there is no water used in this method, the resulting paste can be stored in the freezer, in shoulder-less jars for at least two months. It could be longer, but my supplies usually need to be replenished before that.

2.        The Soup.

Heat about 2 Tbsp of the pickling oil. Add a finely chopped onion (200 - 250g), and cook until translucent. Drain off the oil. Add about 200g of drained, pickled chicken and 400ml of homemade (salt-free) chicken stock. When thoroughly heated through, add salt to taste if required. The soup can be served at this stage. Alternatively, withdraw the soup from the heat, slowly whisk in about 2 Tbsp of yoghurt (or cream?), bring back to the heat, but do not boil. Serve.

          Well that is the report of my culinary experiment. If you do take your courage in both hands and try this, I hope you enjoy. We did! A very spiritual experience!