CHICKEN WITH BLACK MUSHROOM SOUP

Chicken With Black Mushroom Soup image

Provided by Nina Simonds

Time 2h

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 7

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10 Chinese dried black mushrooms
Water to soak mushrooms
1 whole chicken, preferably with feet, weighing 4 to 4 1/2 pounds
6 cups boiling water
1/4 cup rice wine or sake
4 slices fresh ginger, smashed lightly with a flat edge of a knife
1 teaspoon salt

Steps:

In a bowl, cover mushrooms with water and soak for 20 minutes.
Using a heavy knife, cut the chicken through the bones into 12 to 14 serving-size pieces. Place the chicken in a pot with water to cover.
Heat until boiling, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain into a colander and run under cold water.
Remove mushrooms from water, discard stems, and cut large caps into halves.
Combine the chicken, mushrooms, boiling water, rice wine, ginger and salt in a heavy pot that will fit inside a bigger pot.
Put several inches of water in the bigger pot, and boil. In the bottom of the bigger pot, place a rack, and put the pot holding the chicken on it.
Cover both the pot with the soup and the bigger pot and cook over medium heat for one and a half hours. Replenish the bigger pot with more boiling water as it runs low.
When the soup is cooked, skim the fat, remove ginger, and add salt to taste.