The Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup

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The Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup 00:00 Intro 01:00 7 Secrets to Perfection 01:55 Blond vs Brown Chicken Stock 02:45 Best Parts of Chicken for Stock 03:36 Why Salt Ahead? 04:50 Making the Stock 08:30 Making the Sofrito 11:31 Straining the Stock 12:31 Making the Noodles 17:36 Finishing the Soup The Stock ======== How to cut up and salt a chicken: 2 legs, 2 wings, and the back of 1 chicken (or 4 legs) Salt 2 quarts (2 liters) of water (or enough to cover the chicken by about 2 inches / 5cm) 1 celery rib, sliced ​​1 medium carrot, sliced ​​1 yellow onions, sliced ​​1 bay leaf A handful of thyme and parsley sprigs 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns Salt the chicken parts a day before making the stock. Cover with water. Put on a lid and bring it to almost a boil. Uncover and bring it to a full boil. Immediately turn down the heat to maintain a bare simmer. Skim the foam. Add all the aromatics and cook for 1.5 hours. Remove the chicken from the stock. Separate the meat, cover, and reserve (if possible, refrigerate until the next day). Return all the bones, skin, and cartilage to the pot and simmer gently for another 1.5 hours. The sofrito ======== 6 medium tomatillos, husks and cores removed 3 Tbsp of butter or chicken fat skimmed from the stock or olive oil 1 celery rib, finely diced 1 yellow onion, finely diced 1 garlic clove, minced Put the tomatillos on a foil lined baking sheet and cook under the broiler until burnt, 5-10 min. Flip and cook until burnt on the other side. Let cool. Set a medium pot over medium-low heat. Add the celery, onion, and a generous pinch of salt. Stir, cover and cook until the onions start to turn translucent, 5-10 min. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender and golden brown, about 10 min. Add the garlic, a pinch of salt, and cook until jammy, 5-10 min. Peel the tomatillos and add them to the pot with all their juices. Add a pinch of salt. Break them up and cook until thick. Taste and correct seasoning. They should be very intensely sour and salty. The soup ======= 1 carrot, chopped Strain the stock into the sofrito and season with salt to taste. Bring to a simmer. Add the carrot and cook until tender, about 20 min. Take off heat and if possible let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until the next day. To rewarm, bring the soup to a simmer and take it off the heat. Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the soup for 2 minutes. Ladle into bowls on top of cooked noodles coated in butter (recipe follows). Top with dill and/or cilantro. Fresh noodles =========== 300g bread flour (unbleached all-purpose is fine in a pinch) 1 large egg + 1 large yolk + enough cold water to get 185g* of wet ingredients 5.7g salt (1 tsp table salt or 2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher or weighed for all other salt types) * This assumes very low humidity. For wetter climates, decrease to 175g. Put the flour, then the wet ingredients, then salt into the food processor. Run it until no dry flour remains. Get all the dough clumps out onto a work surface and knead for 8 min by hand. How to knead pasta dough: If your dough sticks after the first minute of kneading, add more flour. Dust with flour, wrap in plastic, and let rest for 1 to 6 hours at room temperature. Roll out as shown in the video (if using a pasta roller, stop at the 5th setting to keep them slightly chubby). Dry until no longer tacky, but still pliable. Mix rice flour and cornstarch for sprinkling the pasta sheets to reduce sticking during cutting and storage. Cut as shown in the video. If you want to freeze them for future use, put them in large zip-lock bags in a very thin layer and store them in the freezer. Cook in a very generously salted boiling water without crowding the pot for 1 min (if cooking from frozen, cook until the pot returns to a boil). Remove with a slotted spoon (don’t strain in a colander to keep the floury sediment on the bottom of the pot). Toss with butter and top with soup. Support my channel My cooking classes in the Boston area: FACEBOOK: INSTAGRAM:

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28 COMMENTS

  1. My Grandmother used to make something similar… but the one thing she did that I was surprised about, was the use of Celery Leaves. They give an amazing taste to the Soup, and they add to the texture. A much better replacement to the blander Parsley.

  2. We have a private joke with my Mom that the best chicken soup (or rather Polish rosół) is the one you've forgotten about and left to simmer for 8 hours. Every time that happens, the soup is insanely intense and delicious 😋 We actually use turkey neck and a chunk of beef to get a mixed flavour, so it's really not a chicken soup at all 🤭

  4. The thing with chicken noodle soup, at least for my family, is that growing up it was always the brand Andy Warhol painted. Mushy noodles. Stringy meat. Lots of salt. This is what brings us back to our childhood. Your recipe looks good, and your 'assemble at the end' technique is solid; but for me, it's just not the real deal 🙂

  7. Thank you dear Hellen. My next chicken-noodle soup will definitely benefit from your efforts and investment in this video.
    I want to tell you that back in the days of my childhood, with way less availability of food and ingredients, We would never even dream of removing those vegetables cooked in the soup and throwing them, They were ALWAYS part of the soup, and if you ask me – the "main thing" there. We never put large chunks of vegetables there, but rather excellently chopped cubes of vegetables (including carrots, zucchini onions, celery (root and stems and leaves) Leek, potatoes, sometimes turnip, sweet red pumpkin) all middle-eastern variations of the vegetables. We never even dreamt of making the soup "clear" — on the contrary – we wanted it thick and cloudy – hence the potatoes.

    Maybe the "European" broth-based soup is considered to be a very different thing, but I just can't imagine how it's better than a rich chicken soup with vegetables "the old way". We also usually use the thinnest-possible egg-noodles (they're like hair) and add them 5-8 min before turning off the heat – and hop! to the bowl.

    One more ingredient we use — which is really a Chinese idea — AFTER we turn off the heat, we break a new egg into the pot, and gently stir the whole soup in fast circle until fine "threads" of lightly cooked egg form. Soft and comforting, and so tasty!!!

    Thanks again.

  9. That's the way I cook chicken noodle soup for ages. I never understood why people use whole chicken. The breast meat is dry after cooking. And chicken pieces fit better in the pot. Also they don't tend to float like a whole chicken will.

    Here in Germany we can get frozen chicken carcasses cheap, great for making chicken stock. A few chicken legs added for the meat.

    Noodles ought to be cooked separately to avoid cloudy broth anyway. Also I like rice noodles better than wheat noodles. But that's just personal preference.

  11. I think I know this one! In my experience, any long cooked meal with pronounced aromatics tastes better the next day simply because your house no longer has the background smell of all those aromatics. It's like a palate cleaner for your nose! Sometimes when I'm having guests over for a braise or something, I'll lid the dish once it's done, open all the windows, and air out the house in advance. It's remarkable what a big difference it makes.

  14. I really like the idea of removing the meat from the bones and then continuing to cook the bones. Why should we expect the two to cook at the same rate?
    I also really like the idea of using fresh pasta. It only takes a minute to cook so why not just put it in the soup bowl and cover with broth? Genius! Thank you Helen.

  15. Is there a disadvantage flavor wise in using a pressure cooker for the meat cooking & stock phases? My usual chicken noodle soup routine is based on a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, which in my instant pot usually takes about 22 minutes for a 4-5lb chicken to be fall-apart tender. I imagine individual chicken pieces like these would require even less time if adapted to this recipe

  18. I so appreciate this tutorial but I also just watched the foccacia masterclass which was fantastic! Your emotion at the end brought tears to my eyes. You ARE passing the torch on to us and I have to say I just love you for it. It makes my heart feel so good. ✌️ ✌️ 💜 💜 and many blessings to you Dear Helen.

  20. I make chicken stock and chick soup quite often. I make brown for stock, and blond for soup. It's not hard, but it is time consuming. When I put up the pot in the morning, it's usually early evening by the time I've got it all strained and put away in jars for the fridge. I do cook the bones for another few hours. I also learned somewhere ?? that if you add just a little vinegar to the pot, it won't really change the flavor but it will aid in extracting as much as possible from the bones. The one technique that I think is important for the finished product (as you did) is to toss the over cooked veggies and put the fresh ones in to cook for eating. The ones used to make the stock have already given up all they have to give to the stock/broth and are just mushy globs. I haven't ever tried to make my own noodles, but I think I'll try it. I love big thick noodles, they are bit more like dumplings. Yum! thanks for sharing all your great tips!

  21. Thanks for the great video. I like your suggestions and already found quite many by trial and error. Maybe, three things I like to do in addition: First, I skin the chicken and fry the skin first. The skin is not something I enjoy in the soup but I like snacking on the crunchy roasted skin. Moreover, the rendered fat is excellent to briefly cook the aromatics before adding in chicken and water. Second, I prefer to use a pressure cooker to cook the chicken. This cuts down the cooking times and helps extract collagen but also delivers succulent chicken since the chicken is not immensely agitated. Third, I slightly crack my pepper with mortal and pestle or grinding since this gives a better pepper taste. Forth, I particularly enjoy lovage in any soup but this is a bit tricky since it can become bitter when left in for too long (I did not yet find the rules out for the durations).

  22. My family are soup magnates. We were raised on soups, and stews., because that is a cheap way to feed a ravenous family with only a little meat. I was the Soup Queen in the family, because I could make a dozen different soups, starting with a pot of chicken broth. Egg drop, sweet and sour, chicken tortilla, chicken and Southerm dumplings, Oriental Dumplings, chicken and rice, chicken noodle, etc. The varieties are only limited by your spice cabinet and the ethnic region of the world your family tolerates.

    My sister LOVES the taste of boiled chicken and the broth. My spouse and I, not so much. Spouse won't eat stringy meat; I want a more robust broth. So Helen's suggestion of adding chopped boiled chicken meat to the bowl and pouring broth over the top… is exactly what I have done. [Until I discovered the cooked bone flavor in the broth.]
    Now, I cube chicken breast and sautee it until done, then add the broth and veges to finish the soup.

    I prefer to make my chicken stock from cooked bones, and yes the leg quarters are best, or an entire chicken carcas left over from roasting. Don't forget the neck from a whole caracas! I use the Turkey carcas after Thanksgiving for broth. Barbequed leg quarters will give you the smoke flavor. Of course, gathering the bones after a barbeque will creep folks out a bit, but it is so worth it.

    When making the broth, I keep it simple: mirepoix- 1 large carrot, 1 well washed rib of celery, 1 whole onion [color not important], a teaspoon of garlic powder. Clean and rough chop into three or four pieces each [you will not save these veges.] I DO add onion skins for a lovely color. Dried parsely, and thyme and pepper, minimal salt, and your poultry bones. All into the crock pot with close to a gallon of DISTILLED water. You can't have good broth, if your local water is nasty. I do not skim off the scum; that is just protein [according to Alton Brown] and you will strain the broth anyway. 1 EGG SHELL, CRUSHED-to clarify the broth. Simmer over night and cool. Ladle broth, through a tea strainer into a large container and refrigerate. Once more solids have settled at the bottom, and the collagen in the broth has solidified, ladel again, into your storage containers. I give the last of the broth to the outdoor cats.

    I make my broth and freeze it, so I always have broth when I need some chicken soup. For a Comfort Food chicken soup: another mirepoix, garlic, parsely, thyme, salt & pepper plus your veges and starch of choice. Sometimes, spouse prefers potatoes instead of a pasta.

  24. For 2 years I struggle to make "rosół" (the polish version of a chicken soup) which would satisfy me! Thanks for these tips ❤
    I just wonder if the chopping the vegetables that boil with the soup is necessary? I'm curious if it would make a difference if I'll put them just like they are?

  25. In the fall I make a few quarts of this and freeze it. Good for a cold day and if you're sick. I don't make my own noodles but do make real blonde stock per Helen's previous video. Separating the meat and continuing to cook the bones is genius! Haven't tried tomatillos though.

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