continued...

• 4 cups homemade chicken stock (see chicken vegetable soup recipe)
• 2 stalks lemongrass (thinly slice, use the succulent part only)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch of galangal root (sliced thinly)
• 1 inch of ginger, chopped
• 1-3 red or green Thai chilies, quartered and seeded
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 can of straw mushrooms
• 3-4 tbsp of fish sauce
• 1 lb fresh shrimp (heads and shell on, found at the Asian market)
• 1 can coconut milk

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Boil the chicken in a small amount of water for 10 minutes, pour the water out, wash the bird, and place it in a large stock pot with 2 gallons of purified water, 1 whole large onion (peeled), 10 peppercorns and sea salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 5 hours. Strain the stock out and reserve the meat to work with later. Return the stock to the pot, and add the potatoes and celery. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium and boil for 10-15 minutes. Add the shredded cabbage, carrots, chopped onions, tomatoes, buckwheat and barley. Add the bay leaves and lovage, and taste to see if you need to add salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Check to see if your grains and the cabbage are done. If done, remove from heat and let rest for at least 1 hour to see how the flavors combined. Note: The chicken you strained out earlier can be used in other recipes or added to the soup. If you are having trouble finding lovage, consider replacing it with a couple stems of lemon grass (use the succulent part of the lower stem).

• One 4-6 lb free-range chicken
• 2 gallons of purified water
• 6 large Yukon Gold potatoes cut into  8-12 pieces
• 4 medium-to-large carrots, shredded
• 1 medium head of cabbage, shredded
• 3 stems of celery chopped
• 2 large onions (one whole and one chopped)
• 3 bay leaves
• ½ cup of roasted buckwheat
• ½ cup of small pearl barley
• 2 tablespoons of sea salt (to taste)
• 4 large tomatoes peeled and chopped, or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
• 10 peppercorns
• a small bunch of fresh lovage (if you can find it) or 2 tablespoons of dry lovage

The hot, complex meal that is presented in a soup has been proven over thousands of years and in thousands of cultures to be one of the most beneficial to our health. Soups are easy to digest, get better with time, and in many cultures are found to be an irreplaceable staple of daily life.  I hope that in this cold and flu season you stay well and, please, have a bowl of soup.

Zhenya K. Wine has practiced and taught Russian medical and sports massage and physiotherapy for 31 years, and runs the Kurashova Institute in Rock Island, Ill.