Simple 4-ingredient soup never fails to satisfy

Cherye Pierce is a well-known volunteer for Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Rehabilitation Center of the Pacific, to name a few of the community groups she serves.

Pierce is also known and beloved by many for her chicken soup.

Whenever the East Oahu resident hears that someone is under the weather, she either makes a fresh batch or pulls out a container from her freezer and makes a special delivery.

“I grew up having chicken soup for every Jewish holiday,” said Pierce. “And my mother made it often throughout the year.”

For more than 40 years, she has cooked this soup in the same Magnalite-brand stockpot that her mom, Clem Rosenzweig, used in New Orleans. It’s also the same recipe.

The simple four-ingredient soup is made tasty by the fresh flavors of carrots, celery and onions, vegetables that merge with the rich chicken broth to form the perfect comfort food.

Pierce purchases carrots with their tops intact, as they are fresher and have a better flavor. But she doesn’t include the tops in the soup because they are bitter.

Her version differs from most as she purees the vegetables and broth, so the color of the soup is orange. It has a heartier texture than you would expect.

If you’re planning to freeze the soup, pureeing helps maintain the right texture.

“Frozen cooked carrots don’t have a good texture, but when you blend the vegetables, it works,” Pierce said.

“It is just delicious,” said husband Jim, a retired neurologist who is usually her sous-chef and chops the vegetables.

Pierce starts with an organic whole chicken and cleans it meticulously, even using tweezers to remove any remaining quills.

After simmering the chicken for almost two hours, she removes it from the soup, discards the skin and bones and shreds the meat, to be added to the soup just before serving.

When giving away containers of the soup, she’ll package the shredded chicken separately, along with a third container of either cooked thin egg noodles or matzo balls. But Pierce said the soup can be heated and enjoyed on its own in a mug.

For her friends, the home-cooked meal might make it worthwhile to catch a cold.

“When you are sick,” Pierce said, “there is nothing more comforting than soup.”

CLEM’S CHICKEN SOUP

By Clem Rosenzweig

• 5-pound organic whole chicken, fat and giblets removed
• 12 cups water
• 6 cups onions, sliced about 1/8-inch thick
• 4 cups carrots, peeled and quartered, tops discarded
• 3 cups celery, roughly sliced
• 1 tablespoon salt, plus more as needed, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, plus more as needed, to taste
• Thin egg noodles or matzo balls (optional, matzos made from Manischewitz mix preferred), cooked
• Minced parsley (optional, for garnish)

Clean chicken and put in a heavy pot with water. Bring to a boil; skim foam. Add vegetables, salt and pepper. Lower temperature so that water is barely bubbling. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is almost falling apart, about 2 hours.

Remove chicken, skim fat and continue cooking uncovered for about 30 minutes so the soup reduces and becomes richer and more flavorful. Season with more salt and pepper. Cool.

Put in blender in batches, blending until smooth.

To serve, stir soup thoroughly, as it will separate. Warm soup, add shredded chicken and noodles or matzo balls, if using. Serves 12 to 14. Soup freezes well, but keep chicken meat separate.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including noodles, matzo balls or salt to taste): 210 calories, 7 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 700 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 23 g protein.

Lynette Lo Tom, author of “The Chinese Kitchen,” is fascinated by old-fashioned foods. Contact her at 275-3004 or via instagram at @brightlightcookery. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.