Sa panahong malamig, hindi lang kayakap ang kailangan mo – mainit na sabaw din. Maraming Pinoy, kasama na ako dun, ay lumaki sa sopas. Sopas na may manok, pasta at gatas. Meron din gulay at maraming bawang. Pak! Sarap!
My grandma used to make this a lot whenever she ran out of ideas on what to make for dinner. This dish is a typical Filipino soup that is a complete meal in itself. It has protein, starch and vegetable in one meal. It is popular, perhaps, because it is inexpensive to make and highly nutritious. Here’s how I make my “sopas”.
NOTE: I usually separate the pasta from the soup to prevent the noodle from being overcooked. I love the pasta al dente even after some time. However, you can always dump all the pasta into the soup when cooking to make things simpler.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 lbs chicken quarters
- 10 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 lb shell pasta
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
- ½ head cabbage, chopped
- 1 chicken bouillon
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 (400 ml) can of evaporated milk
- 1 head garlic, toasted
- 6 stalks of green onion, chopped
- Or kinchay if available
Directions:
Prepare the chicken. Put the chicken ingredients in a stock pot and boil for 30 minutes. Get the chicken out, cool and shred the meat. Set aside the chicken. Spoon out the bay and discard.
In the same pot and using the same liquid, cook the pasta according to package direction. Scoop out the pasta using a metal strainer and set aside. Save the stock for later use.
In a separate pot, heat the oil on medium and sauté onion until translucent. Add the carrot and cook for 2 minutes. Pour the stock, milk and bouillon. Season with fish sauce and pepper. Bring to a quick boil, about 7-10 minutes. Then, add cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more. Turn off heat. Put the shredded chicken, toasted garlic and green onions.
To serve, spoon some pasta into a serving bowl and ladle soup into it.