Connie’s notes
Every Filipino family has a recipe for sopas. Every Filipino cook has at least one version. Every version has its own additions. Some have canned Vienna sausage or hotdogs, some have peas or celery, thinly sliced cabbage is present in some recipes… Even I have cooked sopas in different ways and each one was always better than the last. This is my current formula.
Tip #1: Choose bacon and ham over hotdogs
The addition of sliced hotdogs might be nostalgic but in terms of flavor, hotdogs don’t add much. Bacon and ham, meanwhile, are cured and aged meats packed with umami. I’ve heard them referred to as flavor carriers because even small amounts of these meats can revitalize tired old dishes.Tip #2: Do not precook the macaroni
Precooking the macaroni in water means the noodles absorb water and water has no flavor. Cook the noodles in chicken broth instead so that they can absorb the flavors of the broth, the vegetables, the bacon and ham. Cooking the macaroni together with the other ingredients also means that starch is expelled into the broth to naturally thicken it.Tip #3: Forget al dente pasta
This is a soup — we’re not aiming for al dente here. In fact, the softer the noodles, the thicker the soup becomes because of the starch that gets mixed into the broth.Ingredients
- 1 cup thinly sliced salty bacon
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup chopped carrot
- ½ cup thinly sliced celery
- 1 to 2 cups thinly sliced white cabbage
- 1 to 2 cups cubed sweet ham
- salt
- pepper
- 10 cups chicken bone broth
- 1½ cups uncooked macaroni
- 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1½ cups evaporated milk
Instructions
- Spread the bacon in a cold pan, turn on the heat to MEDIUM-HIGH and cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until a visible pool of rendered fat surrounds the bacon slices. Add the butter and stir.
- Add the carrot, celery and cabbage. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Toss thoroughly and cook with occasional stirring until the vegetables have softened.
- Drop the ham over the vegetables and pour in the chicken bone broth. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- When the broth boils, pour in the macaroni and stir a few times until the broth is gently boiling once more.
- Stir in the chicken.
- Set the heat to LOW, cover the pot loosely and allow the soup to simmer until the macaroni has reached al dente stage.
- Pour in the milk and stir. Allow the soup to simmer for another five minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed, before serving.
Ham and kimchi fried rice
