How to Cook Sup Ayam

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 10 mins + 1 hour (inactive)

Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients needed to make Sup Ayam:

• 1 ½ lb chicken breast
• 3 oz bean thread vermicelli, soaked in water at room temperature to soften
• 2 potatoes, boiled, peeled and chopped into wedges
• 1 spring onion salt, chopped
• ½ cup shallots, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 ½’’ fresh ginger root
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into wedges
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 6 cloves
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp pepper powder
• 3 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 6 + ½ cups water
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

Cooking instructions for Sup Ayam:

• Pound the garlic and ginger together in mortar and pestle, into a fine paste.
• Toss the ground spices together until well combined and stir in ½ cup water until they form a smooth paste.
• Rub this paste all over the chicken and marinate for an hour.
• Drizzle oil in a pot and heat it over slow flame.
• Throw in the shallots and stir fry until they turn crispy golden brown.
• Transfer them to a plate, lined with paper towels to soak away excess grease and set aside.
• Stir fry the onions in the same pot until they caramelize slightly and become fragrant.
• Place the marinated chicken into the pot and drop the lemon grass and whole spices into it.
• Fill it up with 5 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer the soup for about half an hour.
• Transfer the chicken into a bowl and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• Pull it with your hands into fine shreds and set aside.
• Meanwhile, adjust the seasonings in the soup and keep it warm over slow heat.
• Boil some water in another pot and drop the vermicelli in it.
• Blanche it for a minute before draining it out.
• Pile it up in serving bowls and top it up with the shredded chicken.
• Add the potato and egg wedges to each bowl, along with a couple of tsp of cilantro and spring onions.
• Ladle the soup over the piled-up ensemble and sprinkle the crispy-fried shallots on top.
• Serve steaming hot.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons