Author Notes
I’ve always been a big fan of making stock in the slow cooker; it’s an easy way to use kitchen scraps like bones and veggie bits. But it recently occurred to me that I could save a couple of steps (and dirty dishes!) by cooking a whole soup in the slow cooker rather than cooking each component individually. No transferring piping hot broth from the pot to a strainer and then back to the pot! No sullying of a pan and colander just to cook noodles! And the broth that results from cooking the whole chicken with the spices is so, so much better than store-bought. —Courtney Casero
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Ingredients
- For the Soup
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1
3 lb chicken (giblets removed, patted dry with paper towels)
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6
whole green onions, halved
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1
1 inch piece of ginger, crushed
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6
whole cloves
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Salt
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2 tablespoons
fish sauce
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16 ounces
rice vermicelli or bean thread noodles
- For the Table Salad
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1
shallot, thinly sliced and fried
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1/2 cup
cilantro, coarsely chopped
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1/2 cup
whole basil leaves
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1/2 cup
whole mint leaves
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1/2 cup
thinly sliced green onions
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1 cup
mung bean sprouts
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1-2
jalapeños, sliced into thin rings
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Lime wedges
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Hoisin, sambal, and fish sauce
Directions
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Place chicken, green onions, ginger, and cloves in slow cooker. Season with salt and pour in enough water to cover. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.
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Once chicken is fully cooked (you can use a pop-up timer, if you like), remove chicken from slow cooker and place in a large bowl of ice water until cool enough to handle. Drain the chicken and place on a work surface. Remove and discard skin, then shred the meat into bite-sized pieces. Set shredded meat aside.
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Return chicken bones to slow cooker, and continue to cook on HIGH for 30-40 minutes (this is a good time to prepare the table salad, if you haven’t already!) Leaving broth in slow cooker, discard bones and strain the broth with a handled mesh strainer or kitchen tongs. Stir in fish sauce and taste broth for seasoning.
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Add noodles to broth and set slow cooker to warm. Cover and let sit 4-6 minutes, stirring every now and then. Once noodle are cooked, remove them from broth with kitchen tongs and divide among 6 bowls. Top noodles with chicken and then ladle broth over each bowl. Serve with table salad and whatever condiments you fancy.
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