Thursday, January 15, 2009

"Free" Fondue Soup: Two Asian Chicken Soups

We had a lovely little fondue dinner party the other night. I used broth instead of oil for the meat course (homemade chicken broth from chicken backs and wings that were in my freezer). The guests brought the "dippers," so we had a nice variety of meat: pork, chicken, beef, and shrimp. I served an Asian cabbage slaw that guests "dressed" at the plates (the mixture in the bowl was dry) and plain rice plus several Asian-style dipping sauces. The next day, I realized that I had the makings of some yummy Asian soups on hand in the fridge. Here's what I did (you can do this, too, anytime you cook a chicken or chicken parts--think through what you are having for dinner and make extra if you want it for soup the next day).

Saved the broth from the fondue pots

Sauteed some onion, carrots, celery in a little bit of oil. Poured the stock over it (I had two pots going).

In Pot A, I added: chopped cabbage slaw mix (had Napa cabbage, green cabbage, green onions, small bits of bell pepper and carrot), leftover cubed (raw) chicken, crushed garlic, and some salt and pepper. When the chicken was cooked through, I threw in some Ramen noodles (without the seasoning). Ta Da...

In Pot B, I added: more chopped carrots, some frozen peas, leftover cubed (raw) chicken, soy sauce, and some salt and pepper. When the chicken was cooked through, I added some leftover rice. Voila!

Both are yummy: faintly exotic tasting (due to the shrimp from the night before no doubt) and almost free since nearly all the ingredients are leftover. We ate off of them for several days.

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