The Best Medicine

It began with an itchy throat in the morning.  Good thing I brought some lozenges and the irksome bother was gone. Or so I thought. 

By the afternoon, my body felt heavy and my joints were painful.  Oh, Oh.  This was not good. Specially when I was away from home to accompany my mother with her medical check-ups in the States. An early night to catch some sleep should do the trick and by morning I would be as good as new. Or so I thought. I was up every hour because of a nagging cough.

I did not fare well the next day.  The itchy throat was back with a vengeance and gave me a cough that came at the most embarrassing times. Like in the middle of a conversation with my sister, M. 

Before I had my next coughing spell, M had emptied her medicine cabinet of its cold-cough-flu arsenal of quick fix.   

There was a orange capsule to be taken during the day, a green capsule to be taken at night.  In between, there was a fizzy super charged vitamin drink to go with my mother’s chicken soup.

Luckily, in the next three days, I had no trips to make outside my sister’s house.  This gave me a chance to slow down and rest and drown my cough and colds with lots of water. 

By the fourth day, I was nearly back to my young (ehem) self.  Although I would cough occasionally, the good news was the aches and pains were gone.  And just in the nick of time! My mother and I had to take the weekend flight back to Manila.

Modern medicines when taken early enough can work wonders. But without adequate rest, getting well could take a slow turn.  Best of all, the caring thoughtfulness of my sister and mother got me up on my feet even much quicker.

----xoxoxox----

Do you believe, as I do, that chicken soup is a good cough and cold buster?  

When we were growing up, I remember how my mother would fix up a bowl of chicken noodle soup from a pre-mix commercial packet (Royco) every time anyone was sick at home.  Was it the saltiness that helped to keep the body hydrated? Was it the easiness to swallow and digest that got the necessary nutrients into weak bodies? Did the steam coming up from the bowl of hot soup cleared the air passages?

Don’t worry. I won’t go scientific on you. There’s a lot you can read up about this on the internet.  What I do know is it works for me and for my family. 

There are a lot of chicken soup recipes I have written about here and here and here and HERE.  So when my daughter went down with the flu a few weeks back, I got out my pot and prepared the same chicken soup my mom made for me. The recipe of which I am sharing with all of you. Having colds and coughs are optional.

My Mother's Chicken with Cabbage and Potato Soup

Cut into serving pieces a kilo of chicken breast fillet or other chicken part of your choice. Season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare the following:

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bulb lemon grass

1 thumb size ginger, sliced

half a head of cabbage, remove the thick rib

2 large potatoes, cut into wedges and soak in a bowl of water

lots of prepared chicken broth (home made or store bought or use chicken cubes)

In a large pot saute the chopped onion and minced garlic in a little oil.  Drop the the chicken and stir about until no longer pink.  Add the ginger and the lemon grass and enough broth to cover. Bring to a quick boil and then lower the heat so that soup simmers gently. Leave to simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue to simmer until potatoes are tender.

Add the the cabbage leaves. Turn off the heat and cover to let the leaves wilt.

Add a dash or two of pepper and maybe more salt, if needed.

Serve piping hot with rice on the side.