Autumn is finally here…and nothing beats a bowl of hot soup on a cold Autumn evening, especially when you’re sick. That’s exactly how Tom and I felt a couple of Friday nights ago.

As with very year here, you can’t really predict how the weather will be like. Some days it’ll be cold, and some days it’ll feel like we’re still in the middle of summer. I’m just glad, we haven’t seen snow yet! I welcome, the crisp cold weather of Autumn, with it’s pretty warm colors, I like Autumn….It’s the harsh, unforgiving Chicago Winters that I dread.

So, because of the unpredictability of the weather a couple of weeks ago. Tom and I managed to catch a cold, throbbing headache, sore throat and all, but being the diligent (hahaha) workers that we were, decided to still head on in to work that Friday morning. We ended up getting really sick by the end of the day. Which ended up with us being stuck at home and in bed all weekend. Which sucked, because we had such beautiful weather that weekend.

Anyways, being sick isn’t fun, but I’ve always enjoyed making and of course…having soup! I got home that Friday night, and decided the best cure for us was to make a pot of hot Malaysian Chicken Soup. I had taken some Advil earlier in the afternoon, so I wasn’t feeling nearly as bad as my husband, so I still had some energy to cook. Which was good, considering no one else would be able to cook for us that night, and I really didn’t want to eat something out of a can.

I decided to make a Malaysian Chicken Soup, rather than the traditional American Chicken Noodle Soup, because

1. We were fresh out of noodles, and…
2. I still had a few Sup Bunjut (small muslin-bag parcel containing dry spices; Coriander, Aniseed, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamon, & Star Anise) left and wanted to use them.

What is inside a sup bunjut

I find Malaysian Chicken Soup a delightful change to the normal chicken soup we have here all the time. So those of you wanting to try something different, you can find the recipe below. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 whole baby chicken, chopped into 8 pieces, set aside the skin and fat trimmings
• 1 red onion cut into 4.
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 4-6 small yellow potatoes
• 1 Sup Bunjut
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups water

Dry spices

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 3 cardamon pods
• 4 cloves

Blended

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 4-6 small shallots

Garnish

• 1 spring onions sliced lengthwise
• fried onions

Method

1. Blend together the ginger, cloves and shallots.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pot, and fry the dry spices until fragrant.
3. Add the blended ingredients and saute until golden brown.
4. Add the chicken pieces and stir, making sure the chicken is blended and covered with the the previous ingredients. Leave for 10 minutes.
5. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onions.
6. Add the water and chicken broth.
7. Drop in the “sup bunjut“
8. Simmer for 1/2 an hour.
9. All salt to taste. You may also add a teaspoon of powdered coriander if you want the soup to be thicker.
10. Remove from heat.
11. Dish out the soup, and garnish with the sliced spring onions, and fried onions before serving.