Samin Nosrat’s Lemony Chicken Soup

Samin share’s with us a crowd pleaser, her Lemony Chicken Soup with lemons plucked straight from her garden. The “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” author, said she was trying to make an elevated French style chicken soup but her palette kept pulling her in another direction and she wound up making something that was as more deeply connected to her Persian roots.

Serving Size (Makes 6 quarts)

Ingredients

• For the broth

  -One 3 1/2-pound to 4 chicken, salted in advance

  -2 yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered

  -2 celery stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces

  -2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces

  -Small handful parsley sprigs or stems

  -2 bay leaves

  -1 head garlic, halved crosswise

  -One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced into thick coins

  -1 lemon, halved

  -2 tablespoons (18 grams) kosher salt, plus more to taste 5 1/2 quarts water

  -1⁄4 teaspoon saffron threads

  -5 cardamom pods, cracked

  -1 tablespoon black peppercorns

  -2 teaspoons turmeric powder

  -1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
  

• To finish the soup

  -Kosher salt

  -Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

  -3 celery stalks, very thinly sliced 4 carrots, very thinly sliced

  -1 large bunch Tuscan or curly kale, tough stems removed and thinly sliced (optional)

Step 1

Butcher the chicken into 6 pieces (legs, breasts, and wings) and place in a 10- or 12- quart stock pot along with the carcass, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, bay, garlic, ginger, lemon and 2 tablespoons (18 grams) salt. Add 5 1/2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease to a simmer. Use a fine-mesh skimmer or slotted spoon to skim any scum from the surface and discard. 

Step 2

Use a small mortar and pestle to grind the saffron to a fine powder with a pinch of salt. Spoon a little hot broth from the pot into the mortar and pour the saffron tea into the pot, repeat with more liquid to get every bit of saffron out of the mortar. Stir in the cardamom, peppercorns, turmeric, and cayenne and continue cooking the soup at a simmer.

Step 3

Remove the breasts from the pot when they are cooked, after 15 to 20 minutes of simmering, and set aside to cool (pierce through to the center of the breast with a paring knife to check doneness; return meat with any sign of pink to the pot to keep cooking for a few minutes longer). When the legs are cooked and the meat is falling off the bone, after about 50 minutes of simmering, remove them from the pot, strip the meat from the bones, and return the bones to the pot. Continue simmering the stock for an additional 30 minutes, for a total cooking time of 1 -1⁄2 hours.

Step 4

When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it into a bowl and set aside, discarding any gristle or cartilage you encounter. If you like chicken skin, you can chop it into tiny bits and add it into the pile of shredded meat to add back into the soup. Otherwise, discard the skin along with the gristle. (I’ve found that all of the meat from chickens larger than 3-1⁄2 pounds can be too much for this soup, so if you prefer a brothier soup, hold back at least a breast’s worth of meat).

Step 5

Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a very large bowl or container. Rinse out the pot, then return the broth to the pot along with the shredded meat. Bring to a simmer, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice. Add the thinly sliced celery, carrot, and kale, if using. Simmer for 20 minutes, then taste and adjust seasonings again. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Step 6

Cover and refrigerate chilled soup for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months. Bring to a boil before serving. 

Michele’s Kitchen Notes

The recipe you need in your life!!

When I visited Samin to record her episode of Your Mama’s Kitchen I got to spend time in HER kitchen and on a cold and rainy day she made us some of the most delicious lemony chicken soup flavored with Cayenne and Tumeric and punched up at the end with a little bit of ghee. It’s a recipe that evolved. She was trying to make an elevated French style chicken soup but her palette kept pulling her in another direction and she wound up making something that was as more deeply connected to her Persian roots. This is one you will want to try in your kitchen. You can follow the recipe here and we will also post it on the Your Mama’s Kitchen website that is coming soon. Woo hoo! Our recipe writing skills are not up to Samin’s so forgive if it’s not perfect but it should be easy to follow

• I loved spending time with Samin. It’s maybe a good thing that we don’t live in the same city or I would be knocking on her door all the time. Love her energy and her generous spirit. Appreciate her vulnerability in talking about the memories that surfaced about a family visit to Iran She is a real gem.

• Listen to the episode wherever you find your podcasts and let us know whatcha think.