When I need a warming, filling, nutritive soup, I pull out this recipe for Lemongrass Chicken Soup. It's light, but filled with protein, healthy carbohydrates, flavor, and color.
Lemongrass?! Give me a substitute, please!
Don't worry if you can't find lemongrass! You can just use lemon peels! I love the subtle flavor of lemongrass, but you can usually only find it in higher end grocery stores or specialty produce markets. So ... lemon peels for the win! Just be sure you peel thinly without any pith. The pith lends too much bitterness.
Thinly slice ginger root and halve jalapeno peppers to put into the broth.
How to choose good jalapeno peppers
- Firm skin
- No blemishes
- If there are white lines on the pepper, it's fine, but that's an indication that they will be spicier.
Build the base of flavor
Put broth in a large pot (8-10 quarts) with smashed lemongrass or lemon peels, ginger slices, and halved jalapenos.
What vegetables are in Lemongrass Chicken Soup?
Thinly sliced cabbage, sliced mushrooms, sliced carrots, and chopped garlic ... so flavorful and nutritious! I usually get all of this cut while the broth is simmering with the aromatics.
Just look at how beautiful that is!
Prepare the garnishes: chopped cilantro, sliced, green onions, and lemon wedges.
How to serve Lemongrass Chicken Soup
Spoon some steamed rice into a bowl, then ladle the soup over it. Garnish with jalapeno peppers, lemon wedges, and plenty of chopped cilantro.
Recipe
Lemongrass Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 3 quarts chicken broth
- 1 stalk fresh lemon grass (each 12-18 inches long) or 6 3-inch strips lemon peel, yellow part only, no pith
- 12 slices fresh ginger cut thinly
- 6-7 fresh jalapeno chiles 3-3.5 ounces total
- 1¼ pounds fresh cabbage cut into 2-3 inch long shreds
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced ¼-inch thick
- 2 carrots (about 8 ounces) sliced ¼-inch thick
- 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts sliced ¼-inch thick, 1½-2 inches long
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce (AKA nam pla or nuoc mam) or soy sauce
- Salt to season
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions
- 2 lemons, cut into wedges
- 1½ cups fresh cilantro, chopped
- 5 cups hot cooked rice
Instructions
- In an 8-10 quart pot, bring broth to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, pull off and discard coarse outer layers from the lemon grass and trim the stem ends. Cut each stalk into about 3-inch lengths. With the flat side of a chef's knife, lightly crush the lemon grass and ginger.
- Cut 1 or 2 of the jalapeno chiles in half lengthwise. Stem the remaining chiles, finely chop, and reserve. Add lemon grass, ginger, and halved chiles to the boiling broth. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, and garlic and cut the chicken into slices.
- Add the cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, and garlic to the broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender, 8-10 minutes.
- Add chicken and tomatoes. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until chicken is no longer pink, 2-4 minutes. Add lemon juice and fish sauce. Taste and season with salt as needed.
- Serve soup over steamed rice and garnish with lemon wedges, cilantro, and chopped chiles.
Eileen
Hello to everyone who has made this soup. It looks like it must be absolutely delicious full of flavor indeed but my concern is all of that prep time and steps. Normally it wouldn’t matter, but I have such a limited time. Can you tell me if it’s definitely worth it , setting aside some time to make this delicious looking soup.
Thanks !
Tammy Circeo
The prep time is mostly in chopping the vegetables. You could always do that ahead of time. Only you can determine if the flavor is worth your time. For me, it is! The broth, all of the vegetables, the aromatics, the chicken ... it's a a healthy bowl of delicious soup!
WMT
I'm looking forward to trying this recipe! When substituting lemon peel, however, what do you mean by white only? Should we only use the pith (which I thought makes things bitter?), or do we only use peel?
Thank you!!
Tammy Circeo
Oh my ... that's a mistake on my part! Yes, it should just be the peel, NOT the pith. I've corrected it in the recipe card. Thank you for catching that!!