Chicken “ABC” Soup

“A for A-nion, B for B-otato, C for C-arrot”. I love how one reader creatively explain the origins of the name for “ABC” soup, a popular home-cooked Chinese soup in Singapore & Malaysia. My bowl of ABC soup (aka “luo song tang” 罗宋汤 in Chinese) is simmered with chicken, potato, onion, carrot, celery, sweet corn and tomato. I sometimes cook ABC soup with pork ribs instead of chicken (then it will be “A – Ang Mo Kio (Tomato), B – Bak Kut (pork ribs), C – Carrot” lol). With the current cooler rainy season though, making this soup with chicken instead of pork just makes it extra nourishing and comforting.

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Chicken "ABC" Soup Recipe
After hours of simmering in the slow cooker, the soup is really concentrated ….

Chicken "ABC" Soup Recipe
… & the chicken meat fell off the bone instantly when touched with chopsticks.

Chicken "ABC" Soup Recipe
Every family has their own special recipe and combination of ingredients for ABC soup.  Some people add red dates and dried scallops which I don’t. I always add celery to mine which is not too common. My pot of vegetables typically consists of (pictured above) onion, potato, carrot, sweet corn, celery, garlic and ginger. Tomato is only added during the last 10 minutes of cooking, otherwise they will disintegrate to bits. I don’t add a lot of sweet corn to my ABC soup because I don’t want it to taste like “jagong” corn soup (which is another popular local homely Chinese soup). Just a few pieces of corn on the cob to help sweeten up the soup will do. With this base of vegetables, you can simmer it with chicken (this recipe), pork or a mixture of both. The kitchen is always filled with a wonderful aroma when the soup is simmering away.

Chicken "ABC" Soup Recipe

This recipe covers two methods of cooking this soup: simmering over the stove-top and using a crock pot slow cooker.

Instead of a whole ‘kampong’ chicken, you can also use chicken drumsticks with 1-2 whole chicken bones.

Serve this soup with a bowl of steamed rice, or add cooked macaroni or noodles to make it a one-dish meal.

Ingredients:

  • 1 ‘kampong’ or small chicken cut to chunks & skin removed (except for the drumsticks & wings)
  • 1.3 litres water
  • 2 medium russet potatoes peeled and cut to chunks
  • 1 large yellow onion roughly chopped
  • 1 large carrot peeled and cut to chunks
  • 2 stalks celery sliced thinly; optional
  • 2 slices ginger optional
  • 4 cloves old garlic optional; don’t peel or mash them
  • 1 tomato sliced to 6 wedges; use one more tomato if prefer a more tangy taste
  • salt to taste

Directions:

Blanch chicken pieces in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes, then rinse with cold water and set aside.

Stove-Top Method

  1. Add blanched chicken and all the ingredients except the last two (tomato and salt) into a large soup pot.
  2. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for another 40-50 minutes. Add tomato in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Season to taste with salt. For best results, keep warm in a thermal pot for at least 2 hours before serving.

Slow-Cooker Method

Use 900ml hot boiling water instead of 1300ml as specified in the recipe. Top up with a small amount of boiling water occasionally if required (when the soup in the pot is reduced).

  1. In a crock-pot slow cooker, add blanched chicken and all the ingredients except the last two (tomato and salt). Cook at “High” for at least two hours (starting from the time when the soup starts bubbling), then set to simmer at “Low” or “Auto” for a few hours or until ready to serve.
  2. Add tomato only at the last 15 minutes of cooking. Season to taste with salt.