"Creamy" Chicken, Corn & Rice Soup

As a continuation of my love for substance, may I present you with my alternate take on our beloved Asian-styled chicken and corn soup?

For those who are long time readers, you may remember in my last post on chicken and corn soup, I added spaghetti. You may also remember my Western take on rice soup (aka congee, rice porridge – whichever way you want to call it).

Aha! You probably can see where I am going with this now right?

Basically, this is an amalgamation of chicken and corn soup plus rice soup. I know I really, really should treat chicken and corn soup as what it is – an entre. However, I feel it makes an easy light meal. We all have one of those days, haven’t we?

“Creamy” Chicken, Corn & Rice Soup

(Serves 3 – 4 people)

What you’ll need:-

2 cups of cooked rice ( I used cooked Basmati rice)
1 – 2 chicken breasts depending on the size (I used 2 small chicken breasts)
2 inches (lenghtwise) of fresh ginger, peeled and slice into 2 large chunks
1 cup frozen sweet corn
White pepper
Sesame oil
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Recently boiled water (get ready a full kettle of boiling water) – may vary depending on your preferred consistency and how long cook it for; it took me about 4 cups of boiling water
Spring onion/scallions, sliced – as garnish

Equipment required – a stick blender or a food processor.

Note – if you don’t have leftover rice, you can add 1 cup of uncooked rice instead. That means additional time is required to cook the rice in the stock until fully cooked.

(1) To make chicken stock – add chicken breasts, ginger slices and hot water into a pot. Cook over high heat until the stock is boiling and then reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until the chicken breasts are fully cooked. While making the stock, skim off the scum with a ladle. (2) When the chicken breasts are cooked, discard the ginger and transfer the chicken breasts on to a plate. Set aside while you add the cooked rice. Let the rice soften a little in the stock by cooking it for say 5 minutes. (3) Then take the pot off the heat and use a stick blender to process the rice mixture until smooth. (4) Return the pot to the stove over low heat. Add frozen corn and cook the rice soup to thicken to your desired consistency. In the meantime, finely shred the chicken breasts (I used my fingers for this) and add the shredded chicken to the rice soup also. At this stage, you can add more water or continue to reduce the rice soup to your desired consistency. I prefer the consistency to be like fresh cream. Once you are happy with the consistency, add salt and sugar to taste, 2 drops of sesame oil, 3 dashes of white pepper. Stir to combine the ingredients. (5) To serve: scatter some slice spring onion, a dash of white pepper and a few drops of sesame oil. Serve immediately.