Prepare A Jamaican Chicken Soup In This Cold Season. It’s the time of year when the weather is cold and some people feel a little under the weather. Warm up with a tasty hot soup with a new recipe for healthy chicken soup. You can discovered how delicious a Jamaican chicken soup can be. This type of soup offers you those delightful ingredients. You can add some exotic flavors to the mix.
A Bit of History on the Jamaican Chicken Soup
Before you discover how to make this delectable soup, this soup is prepared in many other cultures. This type of chicken soup will help those who are ailing. Jamaicans have a number of home-made remedies for colds and sickness. Jamaican chicken soup is still prepared by caring families for their sick loved ones.
Different families add their own different ingredients and there are variations of the Jamaican chicken soup. The recipes have been passed down from generation to generation. Much of the flavor remains delightfully tasty no matter where the recipe originated from in Jamaica. Jamaicans love to cook and be cooks and this dish is proof of it.
How to Prepare Jamaican Chicken Soup at Home
If just reading this is making your mouth water, prepare a Jamaican chicken soup of your own at home. You will need these ingredients to cook your Jamaican chicken soup. After using these ingredients, you can always add other ingredients of your liking:
- Most chicken soup recipes call for a whole chicken, but if you like, you can use breast or thighs. You can also use chicken feet if you so prefer, as this is a common ingredient in Jamaica.
- 1 fresh lime or ¼ cup lime juice.
- 1 chopped large tomato.
- 3 or 4 green onions.
- 1 chopped scotch bonnet pepper.
- 1 teaspoon of allspice.
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (a teaspoon or two of dried thyme can also be used).
- 2 cups of coconut milk (not sweetened).
- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
- 2 minced garlic cloves.
- 1 large onion.
Some Jamaican chicken soup recipes may also call for salt and yam or squash. As mentioned before, you can play a bit with ingredients to your own personal tastes, but keep the spices as this is what will help you to truly be able to taste the flavors of this Jamaican soup.
Next, follow these steps to prepare this delectable soup:
- After the oil is heated up, fry the chicken until it turns light brown.
- Next, heat up the oil in a Dutch pot and make sure to shake off any excess marinade. You will want to keep it for the sauce.
- Add the tomato, green onions, onions, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic, thyme, soy sauce, and all spices and let it marinate for over an hour.
- Place the chicken in a bowl and squeeze or pour the fresh lime all over the chicken. Make sure that it gets covered and rubbed well so that the end result has just the right amount of lime flavor that you are looking for.
- After frying the chicken, make sure to drain the oil. Pour the marinade over the fried chicken, add the carrots and cook on medium high for about ten minutes.
- Next, mix coconut milk and cornstarch into the soup, stirring as you pour it in. Take extra care at this point as you do not want to ruin the soup with clumps. Take your time and keep on stirring until you see the proper consistency.
- Reduce the heat and cook on low for about 20 minutes. This is when the chicken should be tender. If not, cook for a little bit longer.
- Serve with the sides of your choice. Typically, the Jamaican chicken soup is served with rice and peas.
Where Can You Try this Soup in the U.S. and Jamaica?
Perhaps you like to try things at a restaurant instead of preparing a recipe at home. You may be wondering where you can try the Jamaican chicken soup at a restaurant. There are a few options in the United States where you may be able to try this tasty soup.
Ja’ Grill Restaurant & Lounge in Chicago, IL offers a savory chicken soup, as does the Jamaican Jerk Restaurant in Marietta, Georgia. Many Jamaican restaurants in the U.S are privately owned, adding that homemade touch to their dishes.
If you want to visit a great restaurant or two when you visit Jamaica to try their chicken soup, the Mike’s Supper Club does not disappoint. Another local favorite is the Miss T’s Kitchen, where you can get real home-style Jamaican cuisine at good prices.
In conclusion, Jamaican chicken soup is a soup that is worth trying, whether you make it at home or order it in a restaurant. The ingredients are easy to find and the preparation is not that difficult, making it an ideal dish to make for when you are in a hurry or when your sick family member is begging for a hot chicken soup.
In our opinion, for a truly delightful chicken soup experience, you may want to visit Jamaica. While you are there, you can try many other Jamaican dishes that are sure to be exactly what your palate is looking for. Do you think you will like the flavor of this Jamaican style chicken soup? If you have tried this dish before, what do you think about it? Was it spicy or were the flavors just right? We look forward to hearing what you thought about this exotic chicken soup that is one of our favorites.