Happy Friday! And it’s even happier because we get an extra hour this weekend!

If you’ve been following along on Instagram or my website, you know I’m deep into soup season. Today, I shared my how-to for one of my favorite things to do with a whole chicken: boil it up and make an irresistibly rich broth. I find this easy enough to do on a weeknight; you can keep the broth on a back burner and let it simmer for a few hours with your choice of aromatics. The next day, a quick pass through a fine-mesh sieve and a quick shred of the chicken meat gives you a rich base for a gorgeous lunch soup to which you can add anything.

I go through this process once every week or two when the temperatures begin to cool off. It’s easy, it’s comforting, and the broth is really amenable to just about anything you have in the fridge or pantry.

How to make the perfect chicken broth:

To start, gather your ingredients:

• 3½-pound chicken, giblets reserved for another use

• A few bay leaves

• A couple of shallots and a head of garlic

• Water

For the shallots and garlic, no need to fuss over them. You can clean off the root ends but simply halve the shallots lengthwise and halve the garlic crosswise. Leave them in their paper and chuck them in the pot. If you like, you can char the aromatics first to impart deeper flavor. Sometimes I do this; other times, I don’t.

Gather the chicken, bay leaves, shallots, and garlic in a big pot and cover them completely with water. Add a generous amount of salt. You can add pepper here if you like.

Now, at this stage, you can add any aromatic you like to broth. Here are a few suggestions:

• Halved scallions

• Roughly chopped celery or carrots

• The green tops of leeks

• Lightly crushed ginger, no need to peel it

• Crushed lemongrass

• Shiitake stems

• Dried mushrooms

• Kombu

Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a few hours. The broth should reduce by about ⅓ in volume. During the last 30 minutes, you can bring it to a low boil to reduce it further into a rich, dark stock. The aroma will be irresistible! Let cool. Transfer to the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove the chicken from the broth, pick off the meat, and set aside. Given the lengthy cook time, some pieces of chicken may be a bit dried out. You can discard those. Discard the carcass. Strain the broth into a large bowl through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids.

Assemble everything you want to add to your soup. Depending on your mood, you can go any which way with this. I used sliced onion, shichimi togarashi, jalapeño, sesame oil, a splash of mirin, dashi powder, and greens in the above soup. You can pick your flavor profile and modify the broth to your tastes.

Here’s how I made my soup:

Wipe out the pot and heat a little oil over medium. Add a sliced onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add a big pinch of shichimi togarashi and the shredded chicken. Pour in the stock and bring it to a boil. Add 1–2 teaspoons of dashi powder, if you like, and 2 sliced jalapeños. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add greens, like tatsoi, spinach, or bok choy, and cook until bright green. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil and a splash of mirin. Taste and season.

From there, simply ladle over noodles. Cooked frozen udon works really, really well in this. Soba or ramen would also be delicious. I finished with a drizzle of chili oil for extra heat.

So, that’s my tip of the week! Boil up a chicken, enjoy a rich stock, and eat the tastiest soup for a few days.

Looking for more soup inspiration? Check my archives!