Why Is Chicken Soup Healthy?
So why did our parents prepare this delicious soup for us when we were sick? And why is it a healthy food that can help us recover when we’re down with the cold or flu? Before we learn how to make chicken soup, it’s interesting to know these facts. Why is it such a health booster? It has several properties that are useful in treating various illnesses. For other helpful foods, here is a great guide on what to eat when you have a cold.You should also be mindful when storing chicken and this is how long can you keep a chicken in the fridge.
Cleansing
Chicken soup has plenty of fluids which is almost always recommended by doctors when you’re sick. Your body will be full of attacking allergens when you’re ill and it will be battling antibodies that need to be flushed to restore your health. So the abundant broth in the soup will be very helpful.
Disinfecting
This soup also has a fair amount of salt but with lower sodium. So when you push it down your throat, it is sort of similar to gargling warm water with salt. In some ways, it removes bacteria in your throat as well as your mouth and tonsils.
Strengthening
Chicken is lean protein and chicken soup includes added nutrients from the vegetables and they all work together to increase your strength when your body is low on energy.
Clears Sinuses
Chicken soup can also help clear your sinuses like other warm liquids. Like tea, the steam from the soup can clear the sinus.
Eases Inflammations
You may not think highly of chicken soup but it is also known to help ease inflammations. So it’s good to know how to make chicken soup for when swelling occurs.
Inhibits Neutrophils
Chicken soup also inhibits the production of neutrophils which are white blood cells that eat bacteria and produce mucus. This could be present when you have a stuffy nose, sore throat or phlegm. Neutrophils could kill pathogens but they have antimicrobial properties that damage tissues.
Healthy Ingredients
These are the healthy ingredients in chicken soup that help strengthen your body which is good to know when you learn how to make chicken soup.
Chicken contains cysteine which is an amino acid that helps mucus to thin in your lungs. It will make it easier to expel. Carrots have beta-carotene and celery has vitamin C. Both of these strengthen the immune system to make it fight infection. Finally, onions also provide similar benefits of antioxidants, reducing inflammation. They also act as an antihistamine.
How to Make Chicken Soup
There are many variations of chicken soup but as usual, it’s best to learn how to make chicken soup, how to do the basic and you can add and customize it as you master the art. Feel free to adjust these recommendations according to how much you want to make and of course if there are any restrictions on your health in the ingredients.
Ingredients
These are the things that you would need: 1 3lbs whole chicken, 4 carrots halved, 4 celery stalks halved, 1 large onion halved, water, salt, and pepper, 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
Simmer
You are going to simmer the whole chicken into your pot of water. Wait for the broth to be golden. You can do this by slowly simmering the chicken with the skin on. Toss in the vegetables until the chicken falls off the bone. Remember to skim off the foam that builds up every once in a while.
Strain
Once you have a golden broth and the chicken has fallen off of the bone, it’s time to strain the broth.
Chop
After straining, you can chop off the chicken and vegetables: the carrots, celery, and onion.
Return
At this point of how to make chicken soup, you can season your broth with the salt and pepper and add the chicken bouillon which is optional. Then you can return the chicken, carrots, celery, and onion to the pot. Stir them together as you let it simmer for just a bit more.
Serve
You’ve learned the quick foolproof ways of how to make chicken soup. You can now scoop your chicken soup into a bowl and serve it.
Tips on How to Make Chicken Soup
It will be helpful to take note of some of these points to make sure that your chicken soup is healthy and tasty.
The Skin is the Secret
You may be concerned that simmering the whole chicken would make your chicken soup too greasy. But keeping the skin on will help maximize the soup’s flavor. The skin is what gives the chicken soup its savory and full-bodied flavor.
Avoid Mushy Vegetables
Traditionally, you just simmer all the vegetables along with the chicken so that you eat them together with the chicken and the soup. But because it simmers for a while since the chicken takes time to soften, they can often get too mushy.
If you want to avoid that, what you can do when you learn how to make chicken soup is to simmer the vegetables in large chunks. This way, they will still give flavor to the broth but they will cook more slowly. Before the soup is finished, you can take them out and chop them into smaller pieces. Then just return them again to the pot.
Simmering the Chicken
Another great tip when simmering the chicken is to just simmer it in about one and a half hour. But it’s important to be more observant of the chicken rather than the time. Take note that the chicken is tender and has fallen off the bones. That is the real indicator. This will also vary depending on the size of your chicken.
Now you can perfect how to make chicken soup and add your own twist. Serve it hot but don’t scald your tongue.