Born and raised in northern Lebanon, Rana Hamzeh migrated to Canada with her young family a little over a year ago. Settling into a vastly different lifestyle, away from dear family, she grapples daily with the new challenges and experiences this move brings.
It is 17 months since I left my native country of Lebanon, and all the time my children ask me to make my mother’s special soup. I try to give excuses, because when I smell the ingredients mixed together I feel that I’m weakened and I have tears in my eyes. This mixture of spices with chicken and noodles makes me travel in my mind to my mother’s small kitchen where with her wonderful smile she says, “Look, my beautiful, today I’m preparing the soup that you like the most.”
Here I will share with you my favorite soup and I hope that I can write it without tears:
It’s called “شوربة الدجاج بالشعيرية” or “CHICKEN SOUP WITH NOODLES (AND TOMATO PASTE)”.
(I know there are a million ways to make chicken noodle soup, but to me this one is different and special. This recipe is for 2-3 people.)
Ingredients:
- 6 chicken wings
- 1/2 cup of soup noodles
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1/2 cup of canola oil
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- 1/2 L of water
- Pepper
- Salt
Preparation time: the timing changes from one hot plate to another; it is better to taste and look carefully for the color of the noodles and chicken to change.
Noodles: a few minutes — Chicken: between 15 and 30 minutes — Soup: 30 minutes.
Method:
For the noodles
Melt the butter in a pot and add the hard noodles. Let them cook until they obtain a golden color, then separate the noodles from the butter and set aside.
For the chicken
Put half the canola oil in your pot with the butter remaining from the noodles and add the chicken wings. Cook gently to obtain a golden color. Drill the chicken wings with a fork to make sure they are cooked well all the way through. (Cover the pot with a lid while cooking and be careful not to burn your hands.)
For the soup
Add the noodles to the golden-colored chicken wings and mix them together. Add the water, pepper, salt and two sticks of cinnamon. Let it boil, then reduce the temperature and cook gently for 30 minutes. After this, add in the tomato paste and let the soup boil for 10 minutes.
Comments: if the mixture is thick, add water to thin it out.
And that is all. I hope you will enjoy the recipe like I do. Thank you. 🙂
© Rana Hamzeh, 2017
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