Chicken soup is synonymous with comfort. In Filipino cuisine, classics like tinolang manok and chicken mami are just a few of the many comforting chicken soup dishes.
What sets chicken sopas apart? Milk!
Originating from the 1900s during the US occupation, chicken sopas is a Filipino version of the American chicken noodle soup. Filipinos made it their own by adding milk, making the broth velvety and almost sweet.
Today you’ll find different versions of sopas. One popular version includes bright red hotdog slices that stain the pasta, while another, known as spapas (sopas spaghetti), swaps out macaroni for spaghetti noodles.
This recipe is an ode to the classic chicken sopas that all Filipinos grew up eating. After a long day of work or an afternoon of playing, there’s truly nothing better than a comforting bowl of chicken sopas to lift our spirits.
Making stock with stock?
To make the stock in this recipe, we’re boiling chicken bones and skin in prepared chicken stock instead of water. A double stock!
This results in an even more flavorful, intensified stock to use as the base for our soup while extracting every last bit of flavor from the chicken.
If you’ve got more time, boil a whole raw chicken to make homemade stock. The liquid comes out cleaner and more delicate-tasting, and you have chicken meat ready to shred for the recipe.
Use a roast chicken!
Store-bought rotisserie chicken wonderfully for chicken sopas, since it’s convenient and readily available everywhere. The roasted skin and bones deepen the chicken flavor, while the meat itself is already lightly seasoned. You might never use fresh chicken again after using roast chicken!
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 (about 1.4kg) whole roast or cooked chicken
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced (about 3 tbsp)
- 1 medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
- 1 medium carrot, diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 ½ cup chopped cabbage
- 1 ½ cup uncooked elbow macaroni
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
Prepare chicken: Separate chicken meat from bones and skin; set bones and skin aside. Chop chicken meat with a knife, or shred with clean hands into small pieces. Set meat aside, separate from the bones and skin.
Make double chicken stock: Place chicken bones and skin in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add chicken stock. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let simmer until the liquid has darkened and the flavor has intensified, about 45 minutes.
Strain stock: Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the stock. Set the liquid aside and discard the leftover bones and skin.
Cook aromatics: Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté garlic and onions and cook until translucent and aromatic.
Cook vegetables: Add carrots and celery and continue cooking until lightly browned. Add cabbage and continue cooking until almost wilted.
Add chicken: Add chopped chicken meat and mix well. Pour double chicken stock into the pot. Once liquid reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer until the vegetables are almost fully cooked, about 10 minutes.
Cook macaroni: Add the macaroni and stir. Continue simmering until macaroni is almost cooked has a slight bite, about 15 minutes. If the liquid has reduced too much for your liking, adjust accordingly by adding extra water.
Finish and serve: Stir in evaporated milk and mix until fully incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve hot.
