Aguadito De Pollo
Peruvian chicken soup that's perfect for the cold.There’s a Peruvian restaurant called El Pollo Inka with many branches in Los Angeles that my friends and I occasionally visit. There they sell many delicious dishes such as Lomo Saltado, Picante de Carne, and Arroz con Pollo. Yet, what I love most at this restaurant is something that comes complimentarily with every dish, a green herby soup with chicken. Upon further research, I found that it’s called Aguadito de Pollo and it is a soup that consists of chicken, rice, and cilantro. And so, especially since it has been raining recently, I decided to try my hand at making this soup for myself.
Ingredients
1 onion
1 poblano pepper
1 jalapeño (I used this in place of aji amarillo)
5 cloves garlic
1.5lbs bone-in chicken thighs
Veggie scraps of choice (I had celery leaves and carrots on hand)
Bay leaves
Peppercorns
1 bunch of cilantro
1 cup chicken stock
1-2 limes
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup uncooked rice
Directions
Cut the onion, poblano pepper, and jalapeño into chunks place onto a baking sheet. Add the garlic and then coat with salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix so that everything is coated in the oil. Place in a 400 degrees F oven for around 40 minutes until everything browns and gets a nice char.
In a pot over medium high heat, brown the chicken thighs on both sides. There’s no need to cook the chicken thoroughly at this point. Just adding some color.
Place any veggie scraps on hand over the chicken such as carrot skins, celery leaves, and onion skin. Add two bay leaves, a handful of peppercorns and season with salt.
Add water to cover all ingredients. You don’t want to add too much or else the soup will become watery which happened for me. :( Bring to a boil then lower the heat to low and simmer for around an hour.
After the vegetables are done roasting in the oven, take them out and place them all in a blender.
Add the bunch of cilantro, juice from 1-2 limes, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth.
Once the stock is finished simmering, strain the broth through a mesh sieve. Discard the veggie scraps but keep the chicken, making sure to strip the chicken meat from the bone.
Add both the broth and chicken back to the pot. Add the diced carrots and potatoes along with the peas and rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for around 30 minutes until the vegetables become tender and the rice is cooked.
Add the cilantro puree into the soup. Mix and then serve.
