Perhaps the Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup

The Story:

I have always loved my mom's chicken soup. I grew up on it. It is delicious-- a nice clear broth, some lovely, chewy chicken pieces, the occasional carrot, celery, or cut up green bean. Nothing fancy-- not even noodles. I thought this was as good as it gets.

Until I moved to Morocco, and made Perhaps the Perfect Chicken Soup by accident, thanks to an over-watered pressure cooker. That put ideas into my head-- ideas filled with ropey noodles and steaming bowls of soup. That idea was perfected this past Sunday, as you can see from this crappy photo taken will my cellphone above. Here's how:

The Ingredients:

• 1 whole 5 lb quality chicken, rubbed in salt and left to sit for an hour until room temperature, then rinsed and dried


• 1 yellow onion, diced


• a small amount of olive oil


• 2 bunches of celery, chopped


• 1 clove of garlic, chopped


• 5 or so large carrots, peeled and chopped


• 1 lb of green beans, cut in half


• some ginger (a generous sprinkle)


• some salt


• some pepper


• some savory spice (generous sprinkle)


• a bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped


• 1 large bag of extra-wide egg noodles (home-style, sometimes called)

The Cooking:

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil on medium in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. once clear add the cilantro, savory, and ginger. Then salt and pepper the chicken and brown it lightly in the pot, rotating as necessary. once the chicken is lightly browned on all sides, take it out. saute the carrots and celery lightly in the pot, for about 3 minutes. add the chicken back in, add in the green beans, and cover with water. Turn the heat down to very low, and let sit for about 2.5 hours.

Get a pair of tongs and take out the chicken. It should literally fall apart. Let the meat cool, and shred the met, removing all bones, skin, and tendons. Set the meat aside. Strain all the vegetables out of the broth and skim off the fat. Bring the broth to a boil and cook the egg noodles until al dente. Add back in the veg and chicken, bring to a simmer, and ta da, perhaps the perfect chicken noodle soup.

The Serving

I like to sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese over mine. Otherwise, this is perfection in a bowl.