Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever

I have been sick much of the past month. It began in December, just before Christmas. In the beginning I took it lying down. The past year has been a doozy (2005 will live in infamy) and I've been in overdrive for quite some time now. Maybe I just needed to rest and recuperate. I canceled travel plans and party plans, rented some movies, and planned to hunker down. It's the best time of year for it—cold and rainy outside. I didn't mind having a low-key January.

When the cold turned bronchial and I developed an earache, I did get a bit worried. I eventually overcame my long-seated fear and avoidance of doctors to have the ear looked at. Ten days of antibiotics later, I was still coughing and the ear, while no longer painful, was still clogged. I was patient. I hung out in my pajamas, I confined my errands to the immediate neighborhood. I even started a food blog to keep myself amused. Slowly, as January began to slide into February, I began to feel better.

With the onset of February, I kicked back into gear. I began returning the emails and phone calls I had neglected. I got energized about work again. I resumed my exercise routine, neglected low these many weeks. I told my friends that February was the new January, and the start to my new year.

Then, midday on February 2, I began to feel it again. That oh so subtle scratch at the back of the throat, that heaviness in the head, that achiness in the body. No, it's not possible—I couldn't be getting sick again! I had just barely recovered from the first, ridiculously long bout of the flu.

This time I was not going to stand for it. I marshaled my defenses. I began popping vitamin C, sucking zinc lozenges, drinking fizzy Emergen-C drinks, throwing back orange juice. And, most importantly, I made chicken soup.

The chicken soup I've been making this winter is not the Euro-American style of chicken soup, chunky with carrots, onion, potatoes, and either noodles or rice. The chicken soup I've newly become a fan of is an Asian-style chicken soup. It's got plenty of chicken in it, but also ginger, bok choy (think vitamin C), and won ton skins. If I had a Chinese grandmother to take care of me, this is the soup she would make when I got sick. Because I don't, I make it for myself.

CHICKEN GINGER SOUP
Adapted from a recipe by Hsiao-Ching Chou, on the PBS program The Meaning of Food.



This recipe originally called for a whole chicken. Because I don't like to strip chicken meat off a carcass even when I am healthy (and much less so when I am sick), I've altered it to use chicken stock and boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The meat cooks in the soup, further enriching the broth, and becomes tender shreds of flavorful chicken. You could certainly make it with a full chicken (and if you're lucky enough to have someone making it for you, be my guest), but if you're feeling crappy this is an easier, cleaner way to go about it. I now keep a package of chicken thighs in the freezer, just for such occasions.

3 quarts chicken stock (or half stock and half water)
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs)
1/4 cup soy sauce (you may need more, depending on the flavor and quality of your stock)
10-12 dried shitake mushroom, reconstituted in warm water, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 inch length of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 large pinch of red pepper flakes (more if you like things spicy)
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled, with small slits cut into the sides (but not all the way through)
4-6 small bunches of baby bok choy
1 package won ton skins*
salt and pepper to taste

Put the chicken stock (or stock and water) in a large soup pot and bring to a gradual boil. Add the chicken thighs whole (I trim the fat off first). Add the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, and the red pepper flakes. Simmer this together for 2 hours or so, skimming the surface of the soup for any scum, as needed.

Once the chicken has cooked for a while, you can use a spoon to break it into smaller pieces, or take out and use your hands to shred. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Before serving, bring a small saucepan of water to boil and add 6-8 wonton skins (per serving of soup), cut into quarters, to the boiling water. Add these one at a time, or else they will clump together. Boil for 2-4 minutes and drain.

Slice the bok choy into 1/4 inch ribbons. Plan for one bok choy per serving (about 3/4 cup).

In each bowl add the cooked won ton noodles, ribbons of bok choy, and ladle the soup over. Make sure not to serve the garlic clove(s). Add a few drops of sesame oil, if desired.

I like to assemble the bok choy and noodles fresh for each bowl, I particularly like the crunch of the fresh bok choy. If added to the soup they will, over time, get soggy and unappealing. You can also freeze containers of the soup—minus the bok choy and noodles—in preparation for nasty winter colds.

Playing around with this soup I've discovered that I love (love) won ton skins. They come is fairly ample packages, but you can freeze the leftovers. Just make sure to completely defrost them before using, and try to keep them from getting wet in the process. They also need to be wrapped well (in the fridgerator or freezer) so they don't dry out.

* For my gluten-free friends: this could also be made with rice, or rice noodles.

This soup really is delicious. The broth is rich, the chicken falling-apart tender and flavorful. The ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes are warming, and the won ton skins slip softly down a tender throat. A steaming hot bowl of this soup can make you believe that health is just around the corner, and if not, at least you've got something yummy to comfort you until you get there.