How to Prepare a Chicken Soup From a Raw Carcass and Two Wings?

In this blog post I’m going to show you how to prepare a chicken soup from a raw carcass and two wings. I know this recipe from my mom. She thought me how to separate and use every part of the whole chicken. In this post I will focus on the carcass and the wings. Many people might think that those are scraps, and you can’t make anything tasty out of them, but I’ll prove you wrong. This soup is incredibly delicious and nutritious. I would love if you could make it and share your feedback in the comments bellow.
Click here to learn how to cook five meals from one raw chicken.

Helpful Tips about making chicken broth
How to prepare a chicken soup if you don’t have a chicken broth? For this recipe you must make your own broth you can’t use a store bought.
What is the difference between stock and broth? Stock is richer in collagen because it is made from bones, while broth is made mostly from meat and vegetables.
You can add different ingredients in the chicken broth. These are just the ingredients I like to add. Add the herbs and vegetables you prefer.
I save scraps and peels from different vegetables in a container in the freezer and add them when I make a broth. The flavor gets so rich.
In my opinion it is best if you remove as much as possible of the coagulated proteins that form on top of your pot. This step will help you have a clear broth.
I don’t add any salt to the chicken broth. I prefer to have unsalted broth because deferent recipes call for different ingredients that might add extra salt. For example: if I use the broth I made for a Chinese recipe, it might call for soy sauce. If the stock is already salted and I add soy sauce the recipe I’m preparing will become way too salty.
Store the leftover broth in food safe containers for five days in the fridge or for three months in the freezer.

Helpful tips about making the soup
Many people might assume that there isn’t enough meat in the carcass and two wings, but I was able to get 3 cups of chicken meat out of them.
The hardest step of making this soup is adding the yogurt and the egg yolk mixture to the soup at the end. This is a Bulgarian tradition that is called “zastroika”. We do this with almost every soup we prepare. It adds creaminess and flavor to the soup. If you dump the egg and yogurt mixture in the hot soup it will separate. You need to slowly warm it up. Add one tablespoon at a time of the hot broth to the egg and yogurt mixture and stir constantly. When the mixture is warm enough I return it to the soup.

How to Prepare a Chicken Soup From a Raw Carcass and Two Wings?
Ingredients
To make the broth
- 1 raw chicken carcass
- 2 raw chicken wings
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 carrot roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ Tbsp whole black peppercorns
- few sprigs of fresh parsley
Ingredients for the soup
- 2½ quarts chicken stock 10 cups
- 1½ cup finely chopped onion or one medium sized onion
- 1 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1 lb russet potatoes peeled and chopped to 1 inch cubes
- the meat from the carcass and wings
- 1 oz dry angel hair pasta broken to 1 ½ inch pieces
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- ¼ cup plain whole yogurt
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ cup chopped fresh spearmint
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Start by making the broth
- Use a sharp knife to separate a whole chicken to two breasts, two wings, two thighs, two drumsticks and one carcass.
- Add the raw carcass and two wings in a large pot (at least 6 quarts deep). Then add the onions, garlic, black peppercorns and parsley and cover with water. Store the rest of the chicken parts in the freezer or fridge for other meals.
- Place the pot on a burner and the heat on high. Before the water starts boiling a foam (scum) from the coagulated proteins will appear on the surface. Use a slotted spoon to remove as much as possible of that foam.
- Once the water is boiling set a timer for an hour and lower the heat to medium low. The broth should simmer or boil gently. Once the hour is up use a slotted spoon to remove the carcass and the wings from the pot on a plate. Allow it to cool off and separate all the meat from the carcass and wings. Place the meat in a food safe container and return the bones to the pot. Continue simmering the vegetables and the bones for at least 3 hours.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to strain your broth and transfer it in another clean pot.
To make the soup
- Add 10 cups (2.5 quarts)of the broth you just made in a pot. Store the rest of the stock in the fridge or freezer. To the pot with the broth add salt to taste. Once the stock is boiling add the finely chopped carrots, onions and potatoes.
- Boil on medium low temperature for about 5 minutes, then break and add the pasta and the sliced mushrooms. Boil for 5 more minutes.
- Check if the potatoes and carrots are soft. If they are cooked add the chicken meat. If they are not, boil for few more minutes. Check for seasoning and remove from the stove.
- In a bowl stir the yogurt and egg yolk. Then add about a ¼ cup of the stock from the soup in that bowl while stirring. Add some more soup stock to the bowl and stir again. Finally add that mixture to the pot with the soup. Stir well.
- Right before serving top with chopped fresh mint. Enjoy while it is still warm. Store leftover soup for 3-4 days in the fridge.
