Hearty Sore Throat Chicken Chowder

So I mentioned in my previous blog post that I began to feel sick. Sore throat. I got some Difflam from the pharmacy - apparently it's better than Strepsils. I took one. It was raspberry flavoured. Initially it tasted quite nice but then it seemed to numb my tongue, and I felt this strange sensation that I wanted to vomit.

Luckily the sensation went away. But then while we were driving home in the car, I thought, hmmm... I'm breastfeeding, should I be taking these? Am I being paranoid? I became suspicious because I wasn't allowed to have Strepsils when I was pregnant. I called the Maternal Child Health Nurse Line, and she told me to see the pharmacist. After seeing the pharmasist I found out that I couldn't take Strepsils or Difflam, and that only panadol could be taken.

Earlier, Hendrik had shared with me an article that mentions the superfoods for sore throats: bananas, honey & lemon, chicken soup, egg, ginger or honey tea, oatmeal, sage, boiled carrot and brown pasta.

And thus, with the help of this recipe, I made this one up:

HEARTY SORE THROAT CHICKEN CHOWDER

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, diced
4 crushed garlic cloves
2 large carrots
1 turnip or swede, diced
1 small can of corn kernels
1 cup brown pasta
500g shredded chicken thigh meat
4 cups of chicken stock
2 cups cold water
eggs (1 per bowl)

How to make it:


Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Put the leek and garlic in and stir until soft. Add carrots and turnip and stir until also soft.

Add chicken stock, cold water, chicken, corn and brown pasta and bring to the boil. Turn back down to low heat and let it simmer for about an hour, partially covered, stirring occasionally.

Before serving, put an egg in the bowl you will be pouring the soup into. Whisk with a fork. Put the soup in the bowl and quickly stir. This will cook the egg and spread it throughout the soup.

If you're Indonesian like us, garnish with fried shallots and sambal (chilli) - unless you have a sore throat!





I instantly felt better after making this.. And today am feeling so much better!