Chicken Soup with Brown Rice, Radishes, and Lots of Lemon

Składniki

1 teaspoon vegetable or extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup (200 g) uncooked long-grain brown rice, rinsed and shaken until mostly dry

½ lemon

Kosher salt

1 bunch radishes, with their greens if they look fresh

2 quarts (2 liters) Best Chicken Broth (page 311)

2 to 3 cups (280 to 420g) chopped cooked chicken (from making the broth)

Tabasco or other hot sauce

Freshly cracked black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

4 to 6 lemon wedges, for squeezing

Wskazówki

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the rice and toast it, stirring constantly, until it starts to smell nutty, about 3 minutes.

Add 2 cups (480 ml) water, the lemon half, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer gently until all the water has been absorbed, about 45 minutes (unless your package specifies different timing).

When the rice is cooked, uncover and let it steam in the pan for a few minutes. Fish out and discard the lemon.

Meanwhile, prepare the radishes by trimming off the tops and tails and cutting them into halves or quarters, depending on their size (you want about 2 cups/250 g). If you're using the radish tops-and I hope you are-rinse them really well so there's not a speck of grit left, then tear them once or twice (you should have about 1 cup lightly packed/100 g).

In a soup pot, heat up the chicken broth. Add the chicken, cooked rice, radishes, and radish tops (if using). Simmer for about 5 minutes to soften the radishes just a touch and nicely wilt the greens.

Add a few shots of hot sauce and some twists of black pepper. Taste and add more hot sauce, salt, black pepper, or lemon until the soup is both zesty and comforting at the same time.

Serve in big bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and let the diners squeeze in more lemon as they like.

Notatki

In this twist on chicken and rice soup, I use brown rice to bring more nutrition to the table than the usual white rice, and radishes bring an earthy flavor that's way more interesting than your basic chicken soup flavor profile. But to make this soup as delicious as it can be, it's important to dial in the final flavorings of hot sauce, salt, lemon juice, and black pepper, especially the interplay of salt and lemon. -Serves 4 to 6