Sesame Chicken Soup
Sometimes I get a recipe idea in my head and it just doesn’t work out the way I expect. That’s sort of the way this soup came about. It morphed from what I thought I originally wanted, but I’m really happy with the result.
Let’s get to it!
Heat sesame oil over medium heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan like a Dutch oven. Add the chicken breast and leeks and sauté until the chicken starts to turn white, a few minutes.
Add in the mushroom chunks and cook another 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is almost cooked through. I chose portobellos for this because they have a nice meaty texture that’s perfect for a soup.
While the mushroom is cooking, cut up your bok choy. Make sure you are using regular bok choy, rather than baby boy choy. The regular is larger but also has white stalks. Remove the greens and set them aside.
Cut the stalks into quarter-inch pieces. Now cut the greens into bit-sized strips. You’re going to keep the leaves and stalks separate because you are going to add them to the soup at different times.
Add the bok choy stalks, minced garlic, and ground ginger. Cook another minute, or until you start to smell the garlic.
Now pour the chicken stock, cover, and cook for another 8 minutes.
While that’s cooking, you’ll add the tahini paste, coconut cream, soy sauce, and fish sauce to a large bowl. It may seem strange that I’m using coconut cream instead of milk, but I’ve tried both and found the cream gave the soup the more thick and velvety texture that I prefer. If you can’t find coconut cream, don’t let that deter you from making this soup and just use coconut milk. Blend it all together with an immersion blender or hand mixer until there are no clumps of tahini. I didn’t think to do this the the first time I made this soup and Derek ended up with a big blob of tahini paste in his mouth (blech!).
Add the bok choy leaves and tahini paste mixture. Cook a few minutes until the soup is creamy and the bok choy has started to wilt.
Serve with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on top for garnish.
This soup is hearty and creamy while not being heavy, if that makes any sense at all. The tahini paste adds a warm nuttiness and the various veggies give the soup some interesting texture.
Enjoy!
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large or 2 small leeks, cut in half lengthwise and into half moon slices about a quarter-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 2 portobello mushrooms, cut into bite-sized chunks (similar size to chicken)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bunch boy choy
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 can coconut cream
- 1/2 cup tahini paste
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
Instructions
- Heat sesame oil over medium in a large heavy-bottomed pan. Add chicken and leeks and sauté until chicken starts to turn white, a few minutes.
- Add mushroom chunks and cook another 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is almost cooked through.
- Remove greens from bok choy and set aside. Cut stalks into 1/4” pieces. Cut greens into bite-sized strips.
- Add bok choy stalks, minced garlic, and ground ginger to pot with mushroom and chicken. Cook another minute, or until garlic becomes fragrant.
- Pour in chicken stock, cover, and cook another 8 minutes.
- Blend tahini paste, coconut cream, soy sauce, and fish sauce in a large bowl.
- Add bok choy leaves and tahini paste mixture to pot.
- Cook a few minutes until the soup is creamy and bok choy has started to wilt.
- Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.