Firstly I removed all the chunky vegetables from the soup base. These will be returned later to warm through but I didn't want them to lose any of their bite by overcooking.
Whilst the soup base was warming up I cubed half a dozen chicken thigh fillets into bite-sized pieces. You can use breast if you prefer but we find that the thigh meat has far more flavour and you get a lot more for your money. These I browned in about 25g of butter and a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan. Once done they were added to the soup and the whole thing brought to the boil and then left, covered, to simmer gently. I was careful not to get too much of the butter/oil into the pan as I didn't want the finished soup to be greasy. To this I also added a couple of cloves of garlic and about 1" of ginger which had been pureed together in my pestle and mortar.
I cooked this on a low simmer for about 30 minutes to let the chicken get nice and tender and flavour the soup with lots of meaty goodness.
When optimum chicken tenderness point was reached I returned the vegetable pieces to the pan along with a couple of small cans of sweetcorn and a couple of sliced red chillies.. All cooked together for a few minutes to let everything warm through.
Served with a little chopped parsley stirred in at the last minute and a good sprinkle of mature cheddar over the top. The cheese is a great addition, if you fancy it, as it melts into the hot soup. Luvverly Jubberly!
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