Chicken Soup with Brown Rice and Ginger

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Chicken Soup with Brown Rice and Ginger

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large carrot, diced

1 to 2 celery stalks, diced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 to 4 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped

½ teaspoon black pepper

8 cups water (or broth)

4 to 5 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 cup brown rice, uncooked

2 poached, shredded chicken breasts

1 ½ cups Chinese cabbage, chopped

½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

1. Poach 2 large chicken breasts in water. After the chicken is cooked, shred the chicken with a fork and set aside. Discard the water.
2. Sauté the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic in the olive oil for 10-15 minutes.
3. Chop the fresh ginger and add to the sautéed vegetable mixture. I prefer to peel and chop fresh ginger, rather than mashing it through a micro-plane grater.
4. Stir the black pepper into the vegetable mixture.
5. Add the water and soy sauce.
6. Add the uncooked brown rice. Allow the mixture to cook for 45 minutes or until the rice is almost tender.
7. Add the cabbage, shredded chicken, and crushed red pepper flakes to the soup.
8. Allow the soup to cook for at least 15 minutes.
9. Taste the soup and add more soy sauce, ginger, or crushed red pepper to your liking.

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Notes:

• Broth is not generally available at the grocery store in Tokyo, so I have been using water as much as possible and compensating for the lack of flavor through additional spices and vegetables during the cooking process.
• You could easily make broth with vegetables or a whole chicken (and then shred the chicken after cooking). Whole chickens are also generally not available in Tokyo, so I compensated by using chicken breasts. Using chicken breasts was a faster way to complete the soup as well!
• If you use a store bought broth, I recommend reducing the amount of soy sauce.
• I have been using Japanese brown rice (gemmai or genmai), but long-grain brown rice would work as well.
• Dried, chopped chilies are more commonly found in Tokyo (when compared to crushed red pepper flakes). This has been a perfect substitute to add a little heat to the soup!