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Chicken Coconut Soup with Couscous and Cilantro

Coconut and cilantro are two of my favorite flavors ever, and they complement each other amazingly well so I wanted to cook up something that brought these two awesome tastes together. This recipe was inspired by the fish stews of the Bahia region of eastern Brazil. My wife does not like seafood but loves her soups thick, so I replaced fins with feathers and added couscous for a trans-African-Brazilian taste. Bahia residents maintain strong culinary ties with Africa, from the regrettable days of slavery, and that is reflected here in the use of palm oil and coconut milk. Palm oil is available at many health food stores and better grocers, at African and/or South American markets or on the web. You could make this dish extra fiery by substituting a habanero pepper for the jalapeno. This soup has a deliciously bright citrus tang and a blast of fresh flavor from the cilantro. One cup of couscous makes this a pretty substantial brew – perfect for winter. You could easily use 1/2 cup couscous for a thinner soup with equally excellent results.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced fine
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 quart chicken broth
1 & ¼ pounds boneless chicken thighs
1 cup coconut milk
½-half bunch cilantro, chopped
1 cup couscous
2 tablespoons palm oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt to taste
¼ cup roasted peanuts, crushed into pieces with a mortar and pestle or flat blade of kitchen knife

How to make Chicken Coconut Soup with Cilantro

In a Dutch oven or soup pot heat the coconut oil over medium heat

Stir in the chicken, onion and celery and cook about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent

Add the jalapeno pepper, garlic and tomato and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, stirring frequently and increase heat to high

Add the palm oil and pour in the chicken broth

Bring the mixture to a boil; then reduce heat to simmer

Continue simmering for 15 minutes and add couscous

Let cook for 10 minutes, until couscous grains become soft and fluffy

Pour in the coconut milk, add half the cilantro and let simmer for another 5 minutes

Stir in the lime juice and taste for seasoning, adding salt as desired

Serve topped with additional chopped cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice and a few roasted peanut pieces

If you like it spicy, add a splash of hot sauce – it’s all good!

Here is a fun recipe for Cocka Leekie soup from a cookbook written by Adelaide Keen titled With A Saucepan Over The Sea (Quaint and Delicious Recipes from the Kitchens of Foreign Countries) and published in 1910. At the time, the author asserted “This is the oldest recipe for soup known, as it dates back to the fourteenth century.”

Many recipes from cookbooks of the late 19th century and early 20th century don’t use exact measurements, which can make them difficult to follow. This recipe for Cocka Leekie soup, however, can easily be replicated in today’s kitchens. As the name suggests, this soup is primarily a chicken-leek soup with little other than a bit of celery and carrot to give it more body.

Here are Keen’s instructions for making this ancient soup of  Scotland:

• Wash and trim 1 dozen leeks, cut them in pieces half-an-inch long, discarding roots and tops, then fry them 1 ounce of butter, with 2 stalks of celery and 1 carrot, cut fine
• When brown but not burnt, add 1 and 1/2 quarts chicken broth and 1 cup of cooked chicken, cut into dice
• Simmer, covered, 2 hours
• Then add salt, pepper and yolk of an egg, blended with a little of the broth, first, before adding to the soup

Looking for the perfect pot to cook up your next batch of soup? I recommend the Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven. It comes in 11 different colors and is an excellent value for the price.