Friday, August 26, 2011

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

The very first time I had Sweet Corn Chicken Soup was when my Dad took the family to eat out at the Churchgate Raliway Station Canteen, Mumbai...One of the first few Chinese Restaurants to pop up in the 90s. I remember that the small eatery didnt have chairs. There was a chest high table and no chairs.People came there, ordered food, ate it standing up, and the plates were promptly cleared and the table wiped clean, and in no time the table would be taken up by someone else. 
Having accustomed to the variations of lentil, chicken and tomato soups at home, this was an exciting change for us. The first, hot, mouth-burning spoon went painfully down, and I wasn't impressed! I wondered why people were crazy about this slimy hot puddle of starch and came so far for THIS???. Then my Dad did a mini-tutorial (for the sake of bumbling, sputtering idiots who could choke themselves with soup) on how to add the chili-vinegar, soy and garlic sauce from the small jars on the table and all my questions were answered. I was more than impressed when the soup cooled down a bit, completely customized by me, and revealed its true deliciousness in mixed morsels of sweet corn, boiled chicken and crunchy spring onions submerged under the starchy, thick sweetness. And I fell in love (Yeah, yeah, with another food!!!!) To this day, its my most favorite soup in the world. 

Ingredients:-

Boiled shredded chicken -----abt 200 grams (vegetarians can skip the buillions and chicken and substitute with 3 cups of veg. stock (if you add stock, skip water too) and some chopped and sauteed mushrooms)

Canned cream of corn--1 can (canned cream of corn is nothing but Sweet corn cooked down and thickened with corn starch. You can just do that if you dont have the canned cream of corn, available)

Sweet corn kernels-- 1/2 cup
Chicken buillion cubes --3 (powdered)
Corn starch---1 tbsp mixed in 1/4 cup cold water
Chopped spring onions---1 tbsp
Salt and pepper
Sugar- to taste
Chili vinegar, soy sauce and garlic sauce----to be served as garnish
(Chili vinegar can be made at home by adding about 8-10 thai green chilies or Indian chilies, finely chopped into a bottle (about 1 cup) of white vinegar, and refrigerating it overnight.
Garlic sauce is made by roasting 1 whole garlic in the oven, wrapped in foil, peeling off the shell, then mixing the mashed pulp with 1 tbsp of hot sauce and 1 tbsp of white vinegar)




Method:-
In three cups of cold water, mix the chicken bullion cubes and bring to a boil. Add the sweet corn and creamed corn to it, Mix well. Check seasoning first and add salt and pepper as needed . Add shredded chicken and sugar and cook for another minute. Check seasoning and add another spoon of sugar if needed. The soup must be lightly thick now. If you need more thicker soup, add 1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 2 tbsp water and cook until sufficient thickness is achieved. remove from fire and sprinkle with chopped spring onions. Serve with the sauce trio on the side. Enjoy!

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