Filipino chicken sopas
A creamy, milky macaroni soup with chicken, hot dogs and vegetables, the Filipino comfort bowl that tastes like being looked after.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.13 a serving
- 560 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces
- 2 hot dogs, sliced into coins
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1½ cups elbow macaroni
- 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
- 1 can evaporated milk
From your pantry
- 5 cups water
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 560 calories, 39 g protein, 51 g carbs and 22 g fat, and costs about $2.13 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No elbow macaroni? Penne works.
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, carrot and celery, the garlic and the hot dogs. Cut the chicken into small pieces on a separate board.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the butter in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 3 minutes, until soft.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, until no longer pink on the outside. Add the hot dogs for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Pour in the water, in the bouillon cubes, add the fish sauce and over high heat.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Add the macaroni and carrot and cook, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender and the chicken is cooked through.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Stir in the cabbage and celery and cook for 2 minutes, until the cabbage .
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Turn the heat to low, stir in the evaporated milk and pepper, and heat until steaming. Taste and add more fish sauce if it needs salt.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
Low heat
Dolly’s tip: Once the milk goes in, keep it below a boil so it stays smooth.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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