Chicken Soup for the Hungry Soul.. the lemony, creamy chicken soup!

Do you hear your stomach making loud, funny noises everyday at 5 o’clock? It is the time of the day when dinner seems too far away although lunch wasn’t long gone. It is the time, when after having worked since morning you feel distracted and hungry. So, I decided to take a break and have some simple, subtly flavoured chicken soup. Although this soup will do justice to your hunger even on a lazy Sunday evening!

Lemony Creamy Chicken Soup (serves 4)

Chicken(boneless)             100g , washed and chopped finely

Butter                                1 tablespoon

Refined flour                      1 tablespoon

Egg                                   1, separated

Cream                               2 tablespoons

Lemon                              1 (juice + grated rind)

Nutmeg                             ¼ teaspoon, grated

Salt                                    to taste

Method:

Wash the chicken. Take 600 ml water in a deep, heavy bottom pan, add in the chicken pieces, salt and stir. Now, turn on the heat and let it simmer on low heat for five minutes until the chicken is cooked. Strain out the liquid. Save both the liquid and the chicken pieces separately.

Melt butter in a pan, add in the refined flour and cook it on low heat till it becomes off white and fluffy, do not let it brown. Add in the cooking liquid from the chicken a little at a time and whisk thoroughly to avoid lumps from forming. Add in grated nutmeg and stir. Turn off the heat. Squeeze in the juice of one lemon, through a strainer into the soup little by little, stir and stop adding in the juice when the tangy flavour is to your liking. I used up the juice of half a lemon. Once the nutmeg and the lemon juice are stirred in, allow the soup to cool for one minute. In a bowl mix two tablespoons of cream and one egg yolk and mix well.

To finish, fill half round spoon/ Ladle with the chicken soup, add in a one table spoon of the egg and cream mixture and stir it in the ladle, without adding it into the entire soup. Keep adding the egg and cream mixture slowly into the ladle with a little soup and continue to stir and mix it in the ladle. Once the entire cream and egg mixture is added in the ladle, add this mixture slowly into the soup and stir well, so that the cream does not split or curdle in the soup. If necessary pass the soup through a strainer to remove any lumps. 

Garnish with grated lemon rind and a wedge of lemon on the rim. Serve this soup hot and enjoy it on a cool, breezy evening.