Tips for making chicken soup:

1. First of all, you must be able to choose chicken

People like to choose old chickens when making soup, but in fact, baby chickens are more suitable for making soup. The meat of young chicken contains more protein and contains very little elastic connective tissue, making it easier to be absorbed by the body. Secondly, the chickens used to stew chicken soup are preferably hens. The soup stewed by hens is more tonic and suitable for people who are recovering from serious illness. The chicken that has been simmered in chicken soup will taste tasteless, but it can be eaten cold.

2. Freshly killed chickens must be frozen first

It goes without saying that buying live chickens is mainly to ensure the delicious taste of the meat. After buying fresh chicken, you should put it in the freezer of the refrigerator for about 3 hours before taking it out to defrost and make soup. Doing this is the same as the principle of draining sour pork. This way the chicken meat will be the best, and the soup will taste more delicious.

3. Soak in rice washing water

Before making chicken soup, you can put the washed chicken into the rice washing water and soak it for ten minutes. This will remove the odor from the chicken skin and make the chicken more tender. Using the simplest and most easily available materials, you can achieve extraordinary results.

4. Flying water

The so-called flying water is the process of putting chicken, cold water and ginger slices together on the stove, lighting the fire and boiling. Flying water can not only remove the raw fishy smell of chicken, but also a thorough cleaning process, and can also make the soup clear and not turbid, fresh and fragrant without any peculiar smell.

5. Rinse cold water to set the shape

The chicken that has been treated with flying water should be quickly taken out and rinsed under cold water. On the one hand, this can wash away some of the scum attached to the chicken when the water splashes, and on the other hand, it can prevent the meat from falling apart during the cooking process of the chicken soup and maintain the integrity of the skin and meat.

6. Delete attachments

This step can be said to be the key among the keys. Removing some attachments from the chicken is the key to making delicious chicken soup. These accessories that affect the color and taste of the soup include: the red internal organs of the chicken, such as liver, gizzards, lungs, heart, etc. (which can be reserved for other dishes), but they must be removed when making chicken soup. Cut the toenails off the chicken's feet. There are a lot of bacteria in the nails, and making soup will be detrimental to hygiene. Chicken's nose. It is the distance between the upper part of the chicken's mouth and the eyes. If it is not removed, the chicken soup will have a peculiar smell. Chicken butt. This part can be cut off a little more. Be especially careful not to save any when making chicken soup.

7. It is best to use a casserole to stew chicken soup

A casserole should be used to stew chicken soup, not an iron pot. Because the iron pot will bring the smell of rust into the chicken soup, it is not as good as the casserole that can gather the umami and add deliciousness.

8. The water is "hot"

It is better to put the chicken soup in cold water, and add enough water at one time. Do not add water randomly in the middle. Generally speaking, a chicken weighing about 3 pounds should contain about 6 pounds of water. Let the raw materials fully release nutrients and fragrance as the water temperature slowly rises. When stewing chicken soup, you should first heat it up for about 10 minutes, open the lid, and skim off the foam on the surface while it is boiling, so that the future chicken soup will be white and clear without any impurities. After skimming off the foam, turn to a simmer and don't uncover the lid casually. The "out of air" soup will lose its original flavor.

9. The heat should be appropriate

The key to simmering soup is to bring it to a boil over high heat and simmer slowly over low heat. This can dissolve food protein extracts and other fragrant substances as much as possible, making the soup fresh and delicious. Only by simmering over low heat for a long time can the extract be dissolved more, making it both clear and rich. You can add some oil-absorbing foods such as wax gourd and mushrooms and cook them together, which can reduce cholesterol absorption.

10. Add salt at the end

The time of adding salt can, in a sense, dominate the taste of chicken soup. No matter whether some people say to add salt when it is put into the pot or when it is half-cooked, it is wrong. If the salt is cooked for a long time, it will chemically react with the chicken. The protein in the chicken will be locked, the soup will be bland, and the meat will not be stewed. Salt and other condiments must be added when the chicken soup is simmered. After adding salt, turn to high heat for 10 minutes and then stop the fire. Do not remove the lid halfway. Not only will all the flavors be absorbed, but the chicken soup will also have a stronger flavor. Be careful not to stir after adding the salt, as it will leave a raw salt smell.