Chinese chicken corn soup using my family’s recipe with creamed corn, shredded chicken, and soy sauce that is simmered to perfection, resulting in a dish that is silky, velvety, hearty, and vibrant.
Anyone living in Boulder, Colorado can attest to experiencing all four seasons in a single day. So, it was no surprise that a day in April began warm and summery. By noon we had plowable hail, followed by a blustery afternoon that left most of us cold and wet. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the unpredictable weather of the Front Range was as much a topic as statistics in Political Science. Although there were days when I packed a homecooked meal, other times were spent savoring the meals at the cafeteria on campus. Boulder boasts of having been voted the best small city In the US a few years in a row and for having some of the best food that a foodie can explore.
It was during one of these sudden outbursts that I made some lifelong friends over a bowl of Chinese chicken corn soup. With the weather forecasts warning of stormy conditions, I spent that afternoon huddled in the cafeteria swapping stories with my friends. Thanks to the cafeteria’s staff, they had replenished the chicken corn soup that was steamy, and the smell was swirling around. The warmth of the company was heightened by the rich, silky soup topped with fried onions and scallions. This was a stark contrast to the tableau of a wintry and windswept parking lot.
Chinese chicken corn soup is truly a global dish. So far, I have sampled the Pennsylvania Dutch version, the Mexican chowder, the Filipino version, the Italian variation, the Indo-Chinese version from my hometown, and of course, the Chinese version. My most memorable impression of this dish was in the Kowloon area in Hong Kong, where it is a bit of a staple. My subsequent visits to Hong Kong had encouraged me to savor the chicken corn soup, besides other Cantonese dishes.
Origin:
Corn was introduced to China via the Columbian Exchange in the 1500s. But as one of the chefs told me, it was really the introduction of the American canned corn that made this dish a “fast food”. Another chef told me that the chicken in the chicken corn soup was actually a variation of the traditional crab and corn soup.
Chicken corn soup v egg drop soup:
There is a real debate about whether the recipe for the Chinese chicken corn soup is the same as the egg-drop or egg flower soup because they both contain swirls of the beaten egg. The answer is a definitive maybe. Here is the thing: they both contain chicken and/or chicken broth (at the bare minimum). But the egg drop soup has a history in China that predates the introduction of corn by a millennium at least. You can introduce corn into the egg drop soup because it is what I call a “platform” dish. The egg drop soup itself provides a platform to introduce a variety of ingredients. You could include a number of mild vegetables (think diced celery), and of course, carbs and proteins such as mushrooms, tofu, shrimp, and chicken.
Back to the Chinese chicken corn soup. Undoubtedly, virtually every Asian restaurant serves a version of this dish, reflecting the chef’s own imagination and constraints. In fact, it is a very straightforward dish. My version of the Chinese chicken corn soup is slightly spicy. This reflects both my South Asian and South East Asian preferences.
While I have tried Chinese chicken corn soup for many years, my warm memory and experience at the university cafeteria in Boulder have inspired me to craft this dish. The rich broth tasted so yummy and comfortingly warm while I waited with my friends for the skies to clear. After the storm cleared, the drive home was time consuming as I cautiously navigated the black ice-inflicted roads. It was that hearty and warm soup that kept me driving carefully instead of rushing to get home. Ever since, I have made this soup using this recipe more often at home for several years now.
Chicken corn soup is perfect for pretty much any day, but never more so than on a day when you are under the weather and need a quick pick-me-up. While it is not as spicy as the Hot and Sour Soup With Chicken to clear the sinuses, my family recipe will certainly help you breathe when you are suffering from a stuffy nose. You could also try making this soup with Five Spice Chicken or my Cashew Chicken Recipe!
A word on the ingredients:
- Corn: There are six types of corn kernels: flour, waxy, dent, sweet, flint, and pop. Sweet or waxy corn can be used for Chinese chicken corn soup.
- Flour corn: As the name suggests, it is used to make corn flour, bake bread, and as a wheat flour substitute in pancakes, biscuits, waffles, and pastries.
- Waxy corn: Although waxy corn is consumed fresh in China because of its glutinous nature, it is also used to thicken foods and make adhesives.
- Dent corn: It is called dent corn because of the distinctive dent that forms on the kernel as it dries. You can not eat dent or field corn directly because it is hard and not sweet. This is the corn that gets milled and processed into food products such as corn syrup, corn flakes, chips, corn starch, or corn flour.
- Sweet corn: This is the corn that we find in our supermarkets and farmer’s markets. It is harvested when the kernels are young and moist so that the corn has plump and juicy kernels that are high in natural sugars that we love.
- Flint corn: It gets its name from the hard flint-like outer layer that protects the small, soft endosperm inside the kernel. Flint’s hard outer layer and sugar insufficiency make it ideal for grits, polenta, and hominy to make masa.
- Pop corn: Contrary to urban myth, not all corn can be “popped”. Only a specific variety (Zea mays everta) contains a small amount of water stored inside a circle of soft starch that expands and ‘pops’ when the kernel is heated up.
- Chili-garlic paste: Influenced by my South and South East Asian bias, I have decided to notch up this relatively sweet soup by using a hint of chili-garlic paste. While you just use chili paste, what I have found is that the garlic rounds out the spiciness and adds a depth of flavor to this dish. Guaranteed to clear the sinuses!
- Rice vinegar: To add a subtle zing to the otherwise bland chicken, I season it with rice vinegar (or Mirin). While you can, to some degree swap between the two, be aware that there are differences. Mirin has a naturally high alcohol content, while rice vinegar because of its secondary fermentation converts the natural alcohol into acetic acid, which is why it should be used sparingly.
How to make the Chinese Chicken Corn Soup:
- How to make the marinade:
- How to make the chicken corn soup:
1.How to make the marinade:
- Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinate the shredded chicken for 30 minutes.
2. How to make the chicken corn soup:
- Place the corn kernels with water 4 tablespoons in a food processor or blender. Do not cut the kernels too close to the stalk.
- Grind the corn to a smooth paste.
- In a Dutch oven or saucepan, heat the peanut oil and add the shredded chicken.
- Sauté the chicken for 5 minutes on medium heat. Break up chicken while cooking.
- Add the creamed corn and 4 cups of water and boil the soup with black pepper powder and salt.
- Drizzle cornstarch slurry while stirring continuously. Add the light soy sauce. Stir until it boils.
- Gradually, add the beaten egg and stir continuously in a clockwise direction. Garnish with drops of chili sesame oil and scallions.
1. You could make this soup with other kinds of meat or even seafood. I have tried with shrimp and crab, and they both tasted fine. You may need to adjust the cooking times for other kinds of meat or seafood.
2. Sweet corn is the best option for this recipe. See detailed notes in the blog post on ingredients.
Chinese Chicken Corn Soup
Equipment
- Stovetop
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- ½ lb chicken breast shredded
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1½ tsp white pepper powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced fine
- ½ tsp ginger minced fine
- 2 tsp chili-garlic paste
For the chicken corn soup:
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 4 cups water filtered
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1½ cup corn kernels fresh
- ½ tsp white pepper powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp chili sesame oil
- 1 egg beaten
- 4 scallions chopped, garnish
- ½ tsp black pepper powder for garnish
For the cornstarch slurry:
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 4 tbsp water filtered
Instructions
How to make the marinade:
- Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinate the shredded chicken for 30 minutes.
How to make the chicken corn soup:
- Place the corn kernels with water 4 tablespoons in a food processor or blender. Do not cut the kernels too close to the stalk.
- Grind the corn to a smooth paste.
- In a Dutch oven or saucepan, heat the peanut oil and add the shredded chicken.
- Sauté the chicken for 5 minutes on medium heat. Break up chicken while cooking.
- Add the creamed corn and 4 cups of water and boil the soup with pepper powder and salt.
- Gradually, drizzle cornstarch slurry while stirring continuously. Add the light soy sauce. Stir until it boils. Gradually, add the beaten egg and stir continuously in a clockwise direction. Garnish with drops of chili sesame oil and scallions.
Notes
- Prepare the ingredients and keep them ready to go one after another.
- Beaten eggs must added gradually only when the soup is boiling to get the ribbons.
- Mix the cornstarch slurry again before adding as the cornstarch would have settled to the bottom of the bowl.
Nutrition
This tastes just like my grandmother’s recipe in the Sichuan province!
this is perfect for fall!