cozy chicken and rice soup
On nights when you’re cold on the outside, you grab a blanket and light a seasonal candle. On nights when you’re cold on the inside, you make one of two soups: something brothy, or something thicc. This is my go-to of the latter.
Originally a Bon Appetit recipe, which is itself a modification on the East Asian rice porridge template (congee in China; jook in Korea), I’ve modified it again in a few more ways: for one, I always double it, because it’s that good and if I eat it for dinner I inevitably want it for lunch and don’t want to ration over the leftover portions; two, I use Sichuan chili crisp for extra punch in the garlic oil and to call back to one part of its heritage; three, I adapted the stovetop directions for the Instant Pot.
Of the two methods, I prefer Instant Pot, although it paradoxically takes LONGER that way — the chicken is shreddier and more tender, the broth is creamier — but there’s truly not a bad way to do this soup. The photos here are from the stovetop version the first time I made it.
Sichuan chili crisp absolutely belongs in your fridge. While you can get the gold standard Lao Gan Ma in some Asian markets, it does have MSG, which is great for flavor but bad for taking my rings off at the end of the night. I now buy an Instagram-friendly internet brand made in Chengdu called Fly By Jing, which is MSG-free and all natural and whatever. No affiliation whatsoever, because I am no one, I just really like their condiments.
When I first started sharing this recipe at work someone described it as looking “like a hug in a bowl” but, truly, like, does anyone want to be wrapped in the embrace of hot wet porridge to stay warm?
Thought so.
Adapted slightly from Kat Boytsova at Bon Appetit.
RECIPE
A derivative of traditional Asian rice porridges mixed up with a ton of fresh dill, fried garlic, and spicy chili crisp, this soup is the ultimate cozy-night-in food to warm you back up when either your feet or your heart is a little cold.
Effortful time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 8 bowls, great for freezing! Easily halved, too.
YOU NEED
1 large onion (about 4” diameter)
12 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. chili crisp condiment—I like Fly By Jing brand
1 1/2 cup white rice, short grain or arborio, rinsed
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. kosher salt
8 cups chicken broth; I used 1.5 tbsp of low-sodium Better than Bouillon in 8 cups of water
8 cups water (4 if using the Instant Pot directions!)
2 large bunches Tuscan kale, de-stemmed and chopped into bite sized pieces
2 lemons, juiced
6 sprigs dill
Freshly ground black pepper
MAKE IT
Get prepped. Chop your onions and slice your garlic cloves as thin as you can. Yes, it’s a lot of garlic cloves. I’m sorry. Rinse your rice in a mesh colander.
Fry the garlic. Heat all of the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium. Fry the garlic until golden brown and toasty. Right when you start to think, “does this need more?” is when it doesn’t. Remove from heat. Reserve 1 tbsp of it and put it in a large dutch oven. Stir the rest together with the chili crisp.
Sauté the aromatics. Heat that 1 tbsp of the garlic oil in a large dutch oven on medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Build the soup. Add the water, broth, rice, chicken, and salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer (should be small, happy bubbles). Leave uncovered and simmer for 20 minutes.
Get the kale ready. De-stem and chop roughly into bite sized pieces.
Finish the soup. Remove the chicken and shred. Add back to the pot along with the chopped kale and simmer until deep green, about 5-6 minutes.
Give it a hit of acid. Take it off the heat and pour in lemon juice. Hit with black pepper. Stir to combine. Have a taste. It might need more salt.
Serve it up. Top each bowl with a torn sprig of dill and a spoonful of your garlic chili oil.
Instant Pot adaptation
Follow steps 1-3 above.
Sauté the aromatics. Heat 1 tbsp. of finished garlic olive oil over the Sauté-medium setting on your IP. Sauté the onion until transluscent.
Build the soup. Add the broth, water, rice, chicken, and salt to the pot. Because you’re cooking under pressure where the steam stays trapped, no water will evaporate, and you won’t need nearly as much liquid as you would cooking uncovered on the stove. This makes for SOUPY soup, though, so if you like yours tighter and more porridge-like, you can reduce the water by another cup or two. You can always add more.
Cook the soup. Seal the pot and set for high pressure, 15 minutes.
Release the pressure. Depressurize naturally for another 10 minutes, or soup will shoot out of the float valve (Instant Pot isn’t faster, just different!). Release the rest of the pressure manually. When it’s done and ready to open, switch to Sauté-Low.
Follow steps 5-8 above, simmering for 5-10 minutes on the sauté function.