Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

Not to blow my own trumpet, but this is the best chicken and sweetcorn soup I've ever had -probably because it's tailored exactly to my own tastes and I've had years to perfect it. It's also easy to make and very very comforting to have on a cold, winters day. Kids love this too. I almost always get requests for my chicken and sweetcorn soup when family friends with children come over.

Step 4: Mixing through the celery

This was also one of my favourite things to have at Chinese restaurants but, as I got older, I slowly caught on to how much of a rip off a bowl of this could be. Six WHOLE dollars for one little bowl of soup with only a few pieces of chicken?! I think not. Little Lucy had grown wise -it only cost her about $7 to make a whole pot (Sorry, I'm not entirely sure why I'm referring to myself in the third person)!

So you start off with some shredded chicken. Your deli will have some pre-shredded or pPerhaps you have some left over from the roast you had last night?

 The best thing about homemade soups is that you know exactly what's gone in it and each chunk you come across is no longer mysterious. At this point Jason reminds me that, growing up, he's never had soup with chunks in it and I conclude it must be a Chinese thing -puréeing soups is not done where I come from. It's much more satisfying having something to bite into. Anyone else with me on that one?

Pile on the celery. In case you haven't noticed, this is a few steps on from the previous picture

Well.. there's not much more for me to say except that winter is coming up (or is it here already?) and I highly recommend this recipe. It goes great with some garlicky bread and a warm fire of sorts. I can't promise you that it's authentic because, well.. What is authentic anyway? I can tell you that I've never seen this soup on a menu in China although I can promise you that it's delicious and your tastebuds (and your stomach) will thank you for it!

This was my lunch. I had another bowl an hour after that. I couldn't resist.

 Sorry, I have kept this post short because I've just come home from lunch and am currently suffering from a food coma. Perhaps I'll sleep it off..


Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup, Lucy style (serves about 6 but you can keep it for a few days in the fridge. I prefer to eat it all myself)

Ingredients:

1 Tbs oil
200g bacon, coarsely chopped
300g cooked chicken, shredded
2 cans creamed corn
4 cups cold water, added at different times
1/4 celery, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbs cornflour (makes it nice and goopy)
Soy sauce to taste
Pepper to taste (I like to use both black and white pepper)
* Note: You can also use chicken stock in place of water in which case you won't need the soy sauce.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large pot and add bacon until it starts to brown.
2. Throw in the shredded chicken and creamed corn and mix through.
3. Pour 1 cup of water and stir through and reduce the heat.
4. When the mixture starts to bubble, add celery and 2 more cups of water and stir through.
5. Dissolve the cornflour in the last cup of water and add to the pot when it starts to bubble. (Note: it is very important that you add it when the mixture is bubbling, otherwise it won't mix through your soup properly and you'll get lumps throughout)
6. Pour beaten eggs in a thin stream while stirring so it is distributed through the whole soup.
7. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. (I use soy sauce because I like the reddish hue it brings to the colour of my soup. Feel free to use salt instead).