Cha Lua Soup
Cha Lua Soup
Asian soups are very easy to make, and most times, normally no quantities of ingredients is needed and is easily adapted to suit your choice for a soup. I made this on 28 Oct 2017 and I wrote down what I used, so the quantities listed are in fact, a good base to work from. This soup was very much liked by the Thai family as well as myself. This soup is a keeper. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
- 360 grams Vietnamese sausage, cut into ½ inch cubes, (13 oz)
- 12 hard boiled quail eggs, peeled
- 225 grams crab meat, or crab sticks, (8 oz)
- 2 cups sweet corn, fresh cooked, frozen, or canned (drained)
- 5 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts
- fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, for serving, or chopped dill
- raw chicken eggs, for serving, optional
For Thickening, Optional
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- In a medium pot, fill about ¾ full with water and add the chicken breasts, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, you are making the broth. Skim any foam from the water as that forms. About 30 minutes for bone in chicken breasts and 15-20 minutes for boneless and skinless. When the chicken is done, remove from the pot, shred or chop, and add back to the pot. Here I am cooking the chicken breast and three small ears of corn, which provided 2 cups when cut off the cobs.
- This is optional but if you want to make a really great broth, add a chopped carrot, an onion cut in half, and a chopped stalk of celery (Trinity), after the chicken is cooked through, let it cool to room temp, then your chicken will be juicier, strain the broth and return it to the pot, discard the vegetables. I made some great broth 3 days ago, had a quart of it I put in the fridge, I added that to the pot you see in the photo after the chicken was cooked.
- While the chicken is cooking, cube the sausage, chop the spring onions and cilantro, and if using crab sticks in place of real crab meat, chop that up as well.
- After the chicken is shredded and added back to the broth, add in the sausage, spring onion, crab meat, corn, and quail eggs. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to heat everything through.
- Ladle into bowls, sprinkle on some cilantro or dill, and optionally, crack in a fresh egg if desired, enjoy.
For Thickening, Optional
- Mix the cornstarch in the cold water, and mix that into the soup to slightly thicken the soup. This is totally optional, and I did not do this step as I was very happy with the consistency of the soup.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Quail Eggs.
Variants: 1. I think spaghetti, just bit, broken into 1-2 inch pieces, added to the soup would be good way to change it up. 2. Use Cha Hue (peppered Vietnamese sausage) in place of Cha Lua.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I made this on 28 Oct 2017, and very impressed with it, this is just a wonderful soup, and filling! This was very much enjoyed by the Thai family and myself. My wife even had two servings of this. If you have never made broth with Trinity, you need to, the broth was actually a big hit as much as the soup itself. Highly recommended.