Chef Thomas
A Proper Chicken Broth
Sunday's roast chicken, simmered slowly on Monday with carrots, celery, leeks, and thyme into a bowl of clear, golden broth that smells like the kitchen is paying attention.
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Cock-a-Leekie
Created by Chef Thomas
Scotland's great soup: a whole chicken poached with leeks and prunes in a clear golden broth that has been warming people since the sixteenth century and shows no sign of stopping.
Soups & Stews
British
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•1 hr 50 min total
Yield6 servings
January. The kitchen window dark by four o'clock. Rain against the glass and the heating doing its best. This is when cock-a-leekie makes sense: a soup that takes its time, fills the house with the smell of poaching chicken and softening leeks, and rewards you with a bowl of something that feels like it has been looking after people for a very long time. Because it has.
I don't know another soup that is this simple and this complete. A chicken, a heap of leeks, some prunes. Cold water and patience. The broth builds itself while you do something else, and by the time you ladle it out, it's golden and clear and tastes like the most comforting thing you've eaten all week. The prunes are the part people argue about, and the argument is over. They belong. They've been in the pot since the sixteenth century, and the quiet sweetness they give the broth is what lifts it from good to quietly splendid.
I wrote it down in the notebook last winter: chicken, leeks, prunes, Tuesday, rain. The same rain, the same soup, the same feeling of having done something useful with the evening. There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate in front of someone on a night like that.
A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. Use a whole chicken if you want the richer broth. Use legs if you want something quicker and less ceremonial. Either way, cook it gently, season it properly, and don't skip the prunes.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken or chicken legs
Quantity
1 whole (about 1.5kg) or 4 large legs
leeks
Quantity
6 large
trimmed and sliced into thick rounds
soft pitted prunes
Quantity
12
cold water
Quantity
2 litres
bay leaves
Quantity
2
thyme
Quantity
a few sprigs
black peppercorns
Quantity
6
pearl barley (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
a small handful
roughly chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chicken or chicken legs | 1 whole (about 1.5kg) or 4 large legs |
| leekstrimmed and sliced into thick rounds | 6 large |
| soft pitted prunes | 12 |
| cold water | 2 litres |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| thyme | a few sprigs |
| black peppercorns | 6 |
| pearl barley (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsleyroughly chopped | a small handful |
Equipment Needed
- •Large stockpot or heavy-bottomed pan, big enough for a whole chicken
- •Fine sieve or muslin for straining
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Poach the chicken
Put the whole chicken, or the legs, into your largest pan and cover with the cold water. Add the bay leaves, thyme, and peppercorns. Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Not a boil. A boil makes the broth cloudy and aggressive. You want it barely trembling, with a bubble rising to the surface every few seconds. Skim any scum that rises in the first ten minutes, then leave it be. Let the chicken poach for about an hour, or until the meat is falling from the bone.
Starting in cold water draws flavour from the bones slowly. If you start with hot water, the outside of the chicken seizes and the broth stays thin. - 2
Prepare the leeks
While the chicken poaches, prepare your leeks. Cut them into thick rounds, about two centimetres. Don't be dainty. This is not a refined soup. It's a working soup that has fed people through Scottish winters for centuries and it should look like it. Wash the rounds thoroughly in cold water, swirling them about to shake the grit loose. Use the white and pale green parts. The dark green tops can go into the stock pot if you have one running, but they're too tough for the bowl.
- 3
Shred the chicken
Lift the chicken from the broth carefully and set it on a board to cool enough to handle. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Discard the bay, thyme, and peppercorns. When the chicken is cool enough, pull the meat from the bones in rough shreds. Don't be precise about this. Some large pieces, some smaller. The skin can go. The bones go into the bin or, if you're the sort of cook I think you are, back into a fresh pot of water to make a second, lighter stock.
The broth should be golden and clear, the colour of pale amber. If it looks pale, simmer it uncovered for another fifteen minutes to concentrate the flavour before adding the leeks. - 4
Cook leeks and barley
Bring the strained broth back to a gentle simmer. Add the leeks and the pearl barley, if using. Cook for fifteen minutes, until the leeks are soft and silky but still holding their shape. They should yield completely to a spoon but not have dissolved into nothing. The broth will turn slightly milky from the leeks. This is right.
- 5
Add prunes and chicken
Add the prunes and the shredded chicken to the broth. Let everything simmer together for another ten minutes. The prunes will plump and soften and lend the broth a quiet sweetness that rounds out the chicken and the pepperiness of the leeks. This is the part that surprises people. The prunes are not decoration. They are the point. Without them, it's just chicken and leek soup. With them, it's cock-a-leekie.
If your prunes are very dry and hard, soak them in warm water for twenty minutes before adding. The soft, ready-to-eat sort need no soaking. - 6
Season and serve
Season with salt. Be generous. Broth needs more seasoning than you think because the volume of liquid dilutes everything. Taste it. Then taste it again. It should taste clean and chickeny, savoury with a gentle sweetness from the prunes, the leeks soft and mild. Ladle it into warm bowls, making sure everyone gets a fair share of chicken, leeks, and prunes. Scatter a little parsley over the top. Serve with good bread and butter. That's it. We're only making dinner.
Chef Tips
- •The chicken makes the broth, so start with the best bird you can get. A free-range chicken with some age to it will give you a stock with real body and flavour. A cheap, young bird will give you something thin. This soup has nothing to hide behind.
- •Don't rush the poaching. A gentle simmer for an hour gives you a broth that is clean and golden. A rolling boil gives you something grey and greasy. The difference is everything. Trust your eyes: one or two lazy bubbles at a time.
- •The prunes are not optional, whatever anyone tells you. They have been in this soup for centuries and they are the difference between a bowl of chicken and leek broth and a cock-a-leekie. The sweetness they bring is gentle, not cloying, and it rounds out the savoury chicken and the mild, peppery leeks in a way that nothing else does.
- •This soup improves overnight. Make it on Saturday and eat it on Sunday. The flavours settle and deepen, the broth becomes more savoury, and the prunes soften further into the liquid. Reheat gently and check the seasoning, because cold dulls salt.
Advance Preparation
- •The whole soup can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. The flavour improves overnight. Any fat will solidify on the surface and can be lifted off before reheating.
- •The broth, without the chicken, leeks, or prunes, freezes well for up to three months. Defrost and add the remaining ingredients when ready to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 550g)
Calories
410 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
93 mg
Sodium
680 mg
Total Carbohydrates
33 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
34 g
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