light and fresh chicken soup

This soup is wonderful for any reason, but is especially good if you're not feeling well. The cornstarch turns the broth silky and beautiful and the ginger gives it a nice bite.

Chicken, Mushroom and Ginger Soup

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms (dried is much preferable to fresh in this recipe)
4 cups boiling water
4 cups additional water
2 pounds chicken thighs cut into chunks
A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thin
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
A pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch

Boil the first 4 cups of water. Soak the mushrooms in the boiled water for 20 minutes.

While the mushrooms are soaking, mix the soy, sugar, salt and corn starch in a large bowl. Make sure there are no corn starch lumps. Add the chicken and ginger to the bowl, toss to coat with the marinade, and set aside.

When the mushrooms have softened, remove from the water (saving the soaking liquid) and slice thin. Add the mushrooms into the bowl with the chicken. Pour the soaking water though a fine-meshed sieve lined with a paper towel back into the cooking pot.

Put the chicken mushroom mixture, and the additional 4 cups of water into the pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot and cook gently for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Adapted from Simply Recipes