Chicken Soup a la Újházy – (Újházy tyúkhúsleves)

Chicken Soup a la Újházy  -  (Újházy tyúkhúsleves)
Ingredients
(8 servings)
1 chicken (approx. 5 1/2 lb), salt
1 tomato or 1 teaspoon tomato paste
few whole black peppers
dash of ground ginger
1 clove of garlic
4 each of carrots and parsnips
1 small knob celery
1 medium red onion
1 bunch of parsley
5 oz mushroom
7 oz peas
3 1/2 oz vermicelli pasta

Place the chicken into a pot large enough to hold all ingredients. Cover with 3 1/2 quarts of cold water, bring to a boil over high heat and remove the froth from the top using a skimmer. Salt lightly, add tomato or tomato paste, black peppers,
ginger and garlic. Wash the onion well without removing its skin, clean all the other vegetables. Add the onion, two each of the carrots and the parsnips with half of the knob celery and the whole stems of parsley. Under partial cover simmer until both the chicken and the vegetables are tender. In the meantime cut all the leftover vegetables into thin (match-size) slices and in a separate pot cook with a ladleful of the chicken stock until tender. Remove the skin of the mushrooms, cut into thin slices. Together with the peas add to the other vegetables, strain over a bit more soup and cook until done. Remove a little soup from the pot (include some fat) and use it to cook the vermicelli. The fat will prevent the pasta from sticking together and give it a pleasant taste. Do this right before serving otherwise the pasta will turn soggy. Strain the soup when the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken meat from the bones, pull off the skin and cut into largish pieces. Add the vegetable mixture to the soup, heat well. Place the chicken pieces and the vegetables into a dish, ladle over the hot stock. Garnish with finely chopped parsley. You can add asparagus and cauliflower if desired. The meat of the chicken is also served traditionally with cooked potato with parsley and horseradish and vinegar.

Preparation time: 2 hours 30 minutes
One serving: 1133 kJ/271 kcal