Not Your Average Chicken Soup

This soup was recommended for me by my teacher and it's soooooooooooo delicious!

INGREDIENTS

1 whole organic chicken
wild/brown rice
celery
carrot
onion
mushrooms (so far I think shiitake are the best)
parsnip
parsley
bay leaf
3 pieces dang gui tou (angelica sinensis root)
3 pieces bai shao yao (white peony root)
3 pieces bai zhu (white atractylodes root)
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

rinse and pat dry the chicken after removing the bag of organs. stuff the cavity of the chicken with the rice (rinsed or presoaked) to weigh it down.


chop the vegetables and add half of them to the pot to contribute to the broth. add all herbs setting aside some parsley for final garnish.


add water until the chicken is totally covered with enough extra that the pot can simmer for 3-4 hours without the chicken being exposed. Bring the pot to a boil then turn the heat way down so that it is only just simmering. You want to slow cook the chicken over 3 hours or so.

around 30-45 minutes before you want to serve the soup, add the remaining vegetables to the pot . after that 30-45 minutes prepare one large bowl and a smaller bowl -CAREFULLY remove the chicken from the pot - it will basically fall apart so be aware and place in the larger of the two bowls. remove all bones and anything else you aren't excited about eating - for me this is any skin and knuckles (even though I have heard these are some of the best parts) - and discard. You can add all the meat back into the soup or you can keep it separate. It's pretty much ready to go at this point! Check the salt and pepper levels and enjoy! garnish with parsley.

I don't have any pics after this point because I get so messy deboning the chicken I can't pick up the camera and then the soup is so good I forget to take any =)