Can Chicken Soup Save Us?

Affectionately known as “Jewish penicillin” and popularized with the ’90s-founded “ Chicken Soup for the Soul ” media empire, it is notably just chicken soup, rather than a beef consommé, vegetable noodle, or any other type of warm broth, that holds this title. The association is so pervasive, and so well established in the States, that it’s easy to ascribe this theory of chicken-soup-as-cure-all to just about every other meat-eating culture in the world. “It’s a frugal, humble soup that is kind of the cornerstone of a lot of different types of cuisine,” explains Jenn Louis, chef and author of The Chicken Soup Manifesto: Recipes From Around the World .

In her book, she draws many parallels throughout the chicken soup examples from around the world. “There’s a Romanian recipe that’s really similar, but they make their dumplings out of semolina, and I swear, these things are like little clouds of heaven,” she says of supa de pui cu galuste de gris. It’s easy to ascribe the theory of chicken-soup-as-cure-all to just about every other meat-eating culture in the world.

At its heart, she explains, chicken soup is about using scraps to make a filling meal, so a broth made with bones. Studded with bread crumb dumplings or leftover grains characterizes many. “I save every bone—I scrape all the bones out of people’s plates. She says that chicken stock is one of the real building blocks of the kitchen, and the more concentrated, the better; it takes a lot of chicken to make a great stock.

Going to Reichl, this was something she has learned about since she was 16 and began working as a waitress in New York City. “In those days, when you walked into a kitchen, there was a pot of stock on the stove, so I’ve always thought of it as something that you can’t cook without,” explains Reichl. For instance, Japan has one of the most objectively healthy cuisines in the world, by many metrics: Its citizens enjoy the lowest rates of heart disease and obesity in the world, and one of the highest rates of life expectancy. “The role of soup and broth is very special in Japan,” states Elizabeth Andoh, author of several cookbooks on Japanese cuisine, including Washoku: Recipes From the Japanese Home Kitchen .

There, a meal isn’t considered complete without a soup or broth: “It’s comforting, it’s expected, it makes you feel good. It’s not necessarily made from chicken.” Look beyond the bird, and there are many other soul-soothing, soupy traditions that we can benefit from, especially where frugality and health are concerned. Seaweed is also at the heart of one of the most comforting soups in Korea, going to Hooni Kim, chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Danji and author of My Korea: Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes .

He explains that chicken, and meat in general, were seen as luxury products until more recent decades. Even when he was a young child growing up in Korea, chicken wasn’t very accessible. “So there isn’t that history of mom being able to cook chicken at home,” he explains. Miyeok-guk, a seaweed soup, is one of the more traditional soups known for its restorative effects in Korea, he states—it’s the soup that is served to new mothers after giving birth.

This soup features plentiful leaves of miyeok seaweed (as well known as wakame in Japan), which are ingested rather than strained out in dashi-making; the seaweed is rich in nutrients ranging from antioxidants to omega-3, and it’s associated with various health benefits. That’s starting to change, though, and some people like to add chicken broth to their traditional soups, like miyeok-guk. “Koreans are modern. Have read about the whole magic of chicken soup and its healing powers, so that’s kind of new, and I’ve seen that,” explains Kim.

A peer-reviewed paper conducted in 2000 found that chicken soup may have a mild anti-inflammatory effect that could account for its perceived benefits in healing the common cold, but this was conducted on lab rats, not humans. So it’s weighty to note that many cultures with incredibly healthful cuisines eschew chicken and meat-eating altogether—and many dishes don’t fit squarely into the American notion of a “soup.” Take the legume-based daals and rasams in India, which provide filling protein and potent flavors from plants.

It’s natural to marvel at the similarities from one cuisine to another, and to draw connections that reinforce your worldview—for instance, that chicken soup is the ultimate comfort food. For Jorge Cardenas at Ix Restaurant, the most weighty part of making his Mayan-based recados is toasting whole grains. Seeds like pumpkin and sesame seeds, which are blended into his broth. “This is the biggest part of Mayan cuisine—much more than the meat you use,” he states.

Cardenas also makes a vegetarian stock in addition to his chicken stock, so that all the same menu items can be served entirely vegan. “It’s also very healthy to have these whole grains and seeds,” he explains. “It’s good to have, and the flavors are really great.” Know Your Chicken .