Chicken Noodle Soup Six Ways

Chicken Noodle Soup-Version 1

Chicken Noodle Soup Six Ways

Introduction: The ways foods are prepared and seasoned can classify cuisines culturally. Unique seasoning combinations are associated with specific cultures. For example, fermented fish sauce suggests Southeast Asian food--not Norwegian or Brazilian. West Africans often use a combination of tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers sautéed in palm oil. Germans are known for using vinegar, dill, mustard, and black pepper in many of their foods. New Englanders season most of their food with salt and pepper only.

Learning Objectives:

Expand awareness of flavorings, spices, herbs, and seasonings used in various cultures or countries in the world.
Appreciate that using spices, herbs, and seasonings in new ways in common foods can make food more interesting, without adding fat, salt, and sugar.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cut into bite-size pieces

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2small onion, peeled and chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced finely

2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth or stock

1oz egg noodles

Put 1 tbspoil in a large (4 quart) saucepan over medium high heat. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
Put the chicken in the saucepan and cook, turning only once, until browned, about 5-6 minutes.
In a medium frypan, heat the additional 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the frypan and sauté until the onions become translucent, but not brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the sautéed vegetables to the saucepan with the chicken. Add 2 cups of chicken broth or stock to the pan, stirring any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
When the broth comes to a boil, adjust the heat so that it bubbles slowly, but steadily. Add the seasonings, spices, flavorings, and herbs that you were assigned from below. Cook, undisturbed until the meat is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes.
When the chicken is cooked, bring the broth to a rolling boil and add the egg noodles. By tasting, start testing the noodle texture at about 5 minutes of cooking. The noodles should be tender, but not mushy (al dente).

The Six Ways

Indian Masala (mix together first and add a small amounts to your soup until you get the flavor you like)
Ground nutmeg-1/2 tsp
Ground cloves-1/2 tsp
Ground cinnamon-1 tsp
Ground cumin-1 tbsp
Ground cardamom-1½ tsp
Ground coriander-1 ½ tsp
Ground black pepper-1½ tsp
Chinese
Soy sauce-1 tsp
Star anise- 1 very small broken piece (remove from the soup before serving)
Fresh ginger-1 thinly sliced “coin” (remove from the soup before serving)
Mexican (mix together first and add a small amounts to your soup until you get the flavor you like)
Fresh cilantro leaves-1 tbsp finely minced (or 1 tsp dried cilantro leaves)
Ground chili powder-1 tsp
Ground black pepper-1/2 tsp
Lime juice- 1 tsp (or juice from ¼ of a lime)
Cayenne pepper-1/4 tsp
Cajun (mix together first and add a small amounts to your soup until you get the flavor you like)
Ground thyme-1 tsp
Onion powder-1 tsp
Garlic powder-1 tsp
Ground black pepper-1 tbsp
Cayenne pepper- ½ tsp
Argentinian Chimmichuri (mix together first and add a small amounts to your soup until you get the flavor you like)
Fresh cilantro leaves-2 tbsp (or 2 tsp dried cilantro leaves)
Fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley-2 tbsp (or 2 tsp dried parsley leaves)
Garlic clove – ¼ finely minced
White wine vinegar-1 tsp
Ground cumin-1/4 tsp
Crushed red pepper-1/8 tsp

United States BBQ (mix together first and add a small amounts to your soup until you get the flavor you like)
Brown sugar-1 tbsp
Chili powder-1 tbsp
Onion powder-2 tsp
Garlic powder-1 tsp
Paprika-2 tsp
Dry mustard-1 tsp
Tomato paste-1 tbsp

You Be the Judge!

Taste a sample of all the soups that were made today and compare them using the scorecard below.

Sensory Evaluation of Chicken Noodle Soup

Give your opinion of the appearance, flavor, and texture of each soup sample. It’s a good idea to drink water between each sample to cleanse your palate. For each sample, put the number of the phrase that best describes your opinion of each characteristic in the appropriate box.

1 = Dislike extremely

2 = Dislike very much

3 = Dislike moderately

4 = Dislike slightly

5 = Neither like nor dislike

6 = Like slightly

7 = Like moderately

8 = Like very much

9 = Like extremely

Soup / Appearance / Flavor / Texture

Chicken Noodle Soup—Version 2

Switching up the Flavors of Chicken Noodle Soup

Introduction: The ways foods are prepared and seasoned can classify cuisines culturally. Unique seasoning combinations are associated with specific cultures. For example, fermented fish sauce suggests Southeast Asian food--not Norwegianor Brazilian. West Africans often use a combination of tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers sautéed in palm oil. Germans are known for using vinegar, dill, mustard, and black pepper in many of their foods. New Englanders season most of their food with salt and pepper only.

Learning Objectives:

Expand awareness of flavorings, spices, herbs, and seasonings used in various cultures or countries in the world.
Appreciate that using spices, herbs, and seasonings in new ways in common foods can make food more interesting, without adding fat, salt, and sugar.

Day 1: Research the common seasonings, flavorings, spices, and herbs of the country, region, or culture you were assigned. Choose a combination of 3-5 of those ingredients that would be appropriate to put in a basic chicken noodle soup recipe that would “tell the story” of the flavors common in that country or culture. Look at the recipe below and other soup recipes and decide how much of, and in what form (dried, fresh, ground, whole),each of the seasonings, flavorings, spices, and herbs you selected would be needed in your recipe.

Day 2: Make your soup using the following recipe:

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cut into bite-size pieces

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2small onion, peeled and chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced finely

2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth or stock

1oz egg noodles

Put 1 tbspoil in a large (4 quart) saucepan over medium high heat. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
Put the chicken in the suacepan and cook, turning only once,until browned, about 5-6 minutes.
In a medium frypan, heat the additional 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the frypan and sauté until the onions become translucent, but not brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the sautéed vegetables to the saucepan with the chicken. Add 2 cups of chicken broth or stock to the pan, stirring any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
When the broth comes to a boil, adjust the heat so that it bubbles slowly, but steadily. Add the seasonings, spices, flavorings, and herbs that you selected. Cook, undisturbed until the meat is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes.
When the chicken is cooked, bring the broth to a rolling boil and add the egg noodles. By tasting, start testing the noodle texture at about 5 minutes of cooking. The noodles should be tender, but not mushy (al dente).

You Be the Judge!

Taste a sample of all the soups that were made today and compare them using the scorecard below.

Sensory Evaluation of Chicken Noodle Soup

1 = Dislike extremely

2 = Dislike very much

3 = Dislike moderately

4 = Dislike slightly

5 = Neither like nor dislike

6 = Like slightly

7 = Like moderately

8 = Like very much

9 = Like extremely

Soup / Appearance / Flavor / Texture

Questions:

Which soup did you rank the highest in your sensory evaluation? Why?
Which soup did you rank the lowest? Why?
How would you improve the soup you rated the lowest?
Could identify the different spices, herbs, flavoring, and seasonings used in the different soups?
Based on what you tasted today, what spices, seasonings, flavorings, or herbs would make the best Chicken Noodle Soup?

Teacher’s Notes:

This can be done for regions of the world, regions of the US,or specific cultures in the US or world.
For Version 2, students will probably need lots help deciding how much and what forms of various spices and herbs they should use in their soup recipe. For Version 1 the work of selecting the spices and herbs is done, but the will still need some help with how much should be added. But, that’s part of the fun—adding a little bit and tasting. And then doing it again until it tastes good!
Introduction Source: Food and Culture by Kittler, Sucher, and Nelms. 2012. Wadsworth Publ.