Chestnuts are the "king of autumn fruits" and "chestnuts after autumn are the most nourishing".
These widely circulated folk proverbs are the best praise for chestnuts. Chestnuts ripen in autumn, and at this time the chestnuts are tender, full of particles, and the accumulation of nutrients is also the most abundant, which is a rare health product. Some people like to eat chestnuts raw, that is, they love its crisp and sweet taste; some people like to eat fried chestnuts, commonly found in the streets and alleys of [sugar fried chestnuts], powdered and sweet; and some people like to boil chestnuts in soup, which are more sweet and powdery after absorbing oil and sauce, and also have a different flavor. Either way, it's a good taste, which one do you prefer?
In the transition from autumn to winter, the weather is getting colder and colder, and it is most suitable to use chestnut soup at this time to supplement nutrition for the body, enhance resistance, and also replenish water to dry out. With chestnut soup, the combination of ingredients is diverse, such as chestnut chicken soup, chestnut ribs (pork bone) soup, chestnut mushroom soup, chestnut root soup, etc., there are meat and vegetables, a wide variety of varieties, but also can add some warm ingredients in the soup, such as red dates, yam, lilies, goji berries, etc., as long as the method is appropriate, you can calmly make a good soup. In the increasingly cold autumn and winter season, you may wish to cook more to make a chestnut soup for your family, warm and nourishing, warm your body and stomach and heart.
Every year around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the chestnuts in the hometown are ripe, and the few chestnut trees scattered in front of the house and behind the house are very popular. Dad was responsible for beating the chestnuts, and we were responsible for peeling the chestnuts, and sometimes we couldn't help but taste the fresh, crisp and sweet. Chestnuts can be dried after eating for a while and can be stored throughout the winter. When autumn and winter are cold, parents will use chestnuts to cook chicken soup. Mom made a delicious chicken soup, chicken soup with chestnuts is more nutritious, and red dates and goji berries are added, the whole chicken soup is clear and soft, the soup is umami, delicious and not greasy. Below I will share the methods and techniques of this "chestnut chicken soup" to everyone, hoping to like it and bring warmth to my family and friends.
Ingredient list - half an old hen, chestnuts to taste.
Ingredient list - salt, cooking wine, ginger, red dates, goji berries, green onions and white.
Soup maker - a casserole.
---【Cooking Steps】---
1. Prepare the main ingredients
Chicken is their own free range old hen, stew soup is the most suitable, soup is thick and fresh, if you go to the market to buy, to choose old chicken is better. The chicken is slaughtered, cleaned up, removed from the inside and outside of the chicken, and chopped into small pieces. Soak in clean water for more than 30 minutes, remember to change the water during the period, and drain after soaking. Chestnut is also a home-grown oil chestnut, although it is not large, the color is yellow, but the starch content is high, very sweet, stewed chicken soup is the most suitable, powder glutinous sweet.
2. Prepare the ingredients
Two white onions are enough, to add fishy flavor is very good; ginger is selected is old ginger, to fishy to cold, this flavor is indispensable, peel and cut thin slices; goji berries and red dates slightly over the water, remove the dust of the surface layer, red dates cut into thin slices. Set aside all ingredients separately.
3. Blanch the chicken
Bring water to a clean pot, add enough water, pour in the chicken, add a few slices of ginger (to keep a part), a few spoonfuls of cooking wine, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water has boiled, skim off the floating foam and grease and cook for a minute. Scoop it up and soak it in cool water while it is hot to wash away the impurities and grease on the surface.
4. Peel the chestnuts skillfully
Cut the chestnut out of the cross flower knife with scissors, the chestnut skin is slippery, be careful not to cut it to the hand. Clean the pot again, add enough water, add an appropriate amount of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Pour in chestnuts and boil in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Fish out, let cool for a while, not hot, peel off the shell and skin of the chestnut while it is hot, fast and good.
5. Prepare the soup
All the ingredients are ready, followed by a stew of chestnut chicken soup. Put the chicken, chestnuts, white onion and ginger slices together in a casserole dish and add enough water (the amount of water should be filled at once). Bring to a boil over high heat and remove the foam and grease once again. Change to low heat and simmer for 1-1.5 hours, half the time can add chestnuts and an appropriate amount of salt, do not stir. When it is almost cooked, add the red date slices and goji berries, and then cook for another 10-15 minutes, and a fresh and fragrant [chestnut chicken soup] will come out of the pot, warm the body and warm the heart, warm the stomach, warm and melt.
To make this "chestnut chicken soup", you need to pay attention to seven major points:
1. Choose a soup container
Casseroles are preferred for soup containers. Casserole heat transfer speed is slow, low heat slow stew, can slowly stew out the nutrition of chicken, and the meat will not stew old, the taste is relatively tender. At the same time, the casserole heat preservation effect is also good, after the chicken soup is cooked, the chicken soup can continue to simmer for a period of time, and the taste will be more sufficient.
2. Preferably chicken
Chicken stew is best to choose old chicken. The old chicken is mellow and suitable for soup. Compared with tender chicken, the soup is thicker and more nutritious.
3. Chicken soaked
The chicken is soaked in water, soaked for a long time can soak out the hidden blood water in the chicken, reduce the fishy taste of the chicken, and the blood water is one of the sources of fishy taste, if the blood water does not come out, it will affect the edible taste of the chicken.
Chestnut black chicken soup
4. Blanch the chicken in water
Blanch the chicken must be boiled in cold water. After the previous soak, in order to prevent the residue of blood and fishy smell, blanching water is essential. Blanching water can further force blood and impurities, but also remove part of the fat from the chicken, and the stewed chicken soup is thick and fresh.
5. Sufficient amount of water
The water for the stewed chicken soup must be filled at once, and remember to add water halfway through. This ensures that the soup remains boiling, and the nutrients of the chicken will continue to be released to ensure the mellow taste of the soup. If you add water halfway through, it will block this process, resulting in a lack of soup water.
6. Simmer over low heat
The slow simmering process will not stew the chicken to old, and the meat is relatively tender. Importantly, in the case of a small fire, the release of chicken nutrients is more complete and the soup is more nutritious.
7. Add ingredients and spices
The ingredient mentioned here is the chestnut, the chestnut can not be put in advance, otherwise the chestnut is easy to crush into slag during the long-term stewing process, and it can be put in the middle. Seasoning should be less and fine. To make chestnut chicken soup, remember not to add too much seasoning, add salt to taste, so as to ensure the umami taste of chicken soup. Do not stir after adding to prevent the raw taste of salt.