Vietnamese Ginger Chicken Soup

Submitted by Carianne

"Another weight watchers recipe (3 points per serving)."

 

• Ready In: 38mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 inches peeled ginger
• 2 onions, halved
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 5 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 ounces rice vermicelli
• 2 scallions, sliced thin (white only)
• 1 1⁄2 cups bean sprouts
• 1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1⁄4 cup chopped mint
• lime wedge

directions

1. Blacken ginger and onions by threading on a metal skewer and holding over a gas burner flame and turning until scorched on all sides (1-2 minutes).
2. Leave one piece ginger whole, chop the other when cool.
3. Combine broth, chicken, fish sauce, peppercorns, blackened onions, and the whole ginger piece in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove chicken and shred into bite-sized pieces.
6. Continue simmering broth for about 20 minutes.
7. In the mean time, soak vermicelli in a large bowl of warm water until softened, about 10 minutes.
8. Drain and set aside.
9. Strain broth, discard solids, and return to a boil.
10. Add chopped ginger and scallions, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
11. To serve: divide vermicelli into 4 bowls, tops with bean sprouts and shredded chicken, then ladle over broth.
12. Serve with cilantro, mint, and lime on the side.

Reviews

[Kevin Young]

VERY good. Thank you. A good bowl of Vietnamese soup is really a great thing. This recipe was very easy and also very quick (something most of them are not). A good broth really makes the soup in these recipes and for the amount of time put into it, this broth is great. I did roast a few cloves of garlic and add them with the onion along with a few star anise, other than that I followed the recipe exactly and it was fabulous. My only complaint was there was no left over broth for lunch the next day. Thanks for a great recipe.

 

[VictoriaL]

This was good, and has definate possibilities. As a matter of personal taste, next time I will reduce the fish sauce to 2 teaspoons and halve the amount of mint. I increased the rice vermicelli to 4 ounces (since that's what I had and didn't want an ounce leftover in the pantry) and the next time I will absolutely cut it into pieces, probably with kitchen scissors after it is soaked-- I had to wash the placemats afterward! And I added 3/4 cup of coarsely chopped carrots with the ginger and scallions. BTW, it must have been good-- DH and I polished off all 4 servings for lunch! :)