Monday I made J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Chicken and Ginger Soup with Rice Cakes recipe from The Wok.

For the broth, a whole chicken, cut into parts is simmered with ginger, garlic, onion, scallions, and peppercorns. The breasts are removed once they’re cooked through, and then once the legs are “fall-apart tender,” they are also removed. The stock then gets strained.

The strained stock is returned to a simmer with napa cabbage and rice cakes. The cooked chicken meat is pulled and shredded and added back to the soup. Finally, sliced ginger, chives, cilantro, and scallions are added. Kenji calls for Chinese yellow chives or garlic chives. I substituted with regular chives which he allows for in the recipe note.

Kenji calls for serving with pickled chiles at the table.

My parents were visiting, so they got to try this recipe too. The pickled chiles themselves were a bit too hot for us, but the spicy brine added a nice kick. I served it with a side of rice and salad. Almost everyone added some of the rice to the soup.

I thought the soup was good, with a lot of meaty chicken in it. I would have appreciated more rice cakes. My son enjoyed eating the chicken out of the soup. My mom thought it needed a bit more salt. That’s my fault. Kenji says to salt to taste after straining the stock. My dad said it was good. Megan thought it was okay. I think she would have appreciated more going on, flavor-wise.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.