<TENDER CHICKEN GINGER SOUP>

This one is sooooo simple to make!!!! I cooked this in my cooking class and the guests all fell in love with the taste and easy steps!! My dear guests and family approve this recipe! Please enjoy when you feel cold!!

＜Yield> 6 servings

<Prep time> 5 minutes

<Cook time> 1 hour

<Ingredients>

1500ml water

500g daikon radish

120g leek

30g ginger (approximately half of a ginger)

8 dried shiitake mushrooms

8 chicken drumsticks

100ml of rice wine

2 tablespoons salted rice malt

1 tablespoon Toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon Soy sauce

salt and pepper for adjusting the taste

<Optional toppings>

green onions

black pepper

<Directions>

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in the water overnight. The next day, take each mushroom and squeeze out the liquid and remove the stem.

2. Separate the green parts and white parts of the leek. The green part will help to reduce the smell from the chicken. Slice the white parts at an angle.

After scrubbing the ginger well, slice them into 1cm pieces with the skin on. The skin from the ginger will help to warm you up.

3. In a pressure cooker add the stock from the dried shiitake mushrooms, salted rice malt and the rice wine. The salted rice malt is mixture of salt and rice mold that has been fermented. You can use it as a salt but salted rice malt has a more mild and deeper flavor from the natural sweetness of the rice. It also helps to tenderize the chicken. Add in the chicken drumsticks, the green parts of the leek, whole shiitake mushrooms without their stems and ginger.

Put the lid on, and wait for the pressure to build up. After the pressure has reached high, simmer it for 15 minutes on low heat.

4. Peel the daikon radish, then cut into cubes. The vegetable you put in your soup is really versatile, so be creative with the vegetables. Carrots or Chinese cabbage are my favorites.

5. By the time the pressure cooker has released the pressure naturally, it should be ready to open. Remove the leeks and ginger. Add in the cubed daikon radishes and the white parts of the leek. Simmer it for another 10 minutes until the daikon radishes are cooked. Splash in the soy sauce and then salt to taste. Now it's ready to serve! Drizzle some toasted sesame oil and black pepper when you eat it. Sprinkle with some green onions for presentation.

<Notes>

・If you don’t have a pressure cooker, just simmer it for more than 2 hours in a large pot.

・You always want to adjust the taste with salt and pepper. It may taste a little bland without them.

・If salted rice malt is not available, use half a teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of rice. The rice will thicken the sauce and bring up the flavor of the daikon radish.

・Enjoy pouring this soup over noodles or enjoy it with rice.

<Storage time>

Store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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