Creamy Chicken Sopas

Many many years ago, when my sisters and I were still kids (my sisters were probably still in pre-school), we had Filipino maids at home while my parents went out to work. Those were the better days where maids are more trustworthy and most parents will leave their children at home with the maids so that they can work peacefully. Although I am still very young at that time, I do remember that my Filipino maids speaks English and they have their Sunday's off where they can go out to Pudu, Kota Raya, Bukit Bintang and dance at discos or hang out with their fellow Filipino friends. They will be out since morning and will be back around evening. I had Filipino maids for quite many years, and there is no doubt that I would remember some of their Filipino cooking. One of them, which my sisters and I have a particularly strong memory of is this: Creamy Chicken Sopas.

I didn't know it was called Chicken Sopas until my sister accidentally bumped upon a site which had the recipe for this. When I look at it now, I can totally remember how my Filipino maid used to feed us this, and I think I didn't really like it back then. She would always give us a gigantic bowl of this and make us finish it. Now, many years later, I think it is so creamy and heartwarming that I promised myself I am going to cook it a second time. Sigh, the good old times of running away from the feather duster in her hands because I refuse to eat :P 

Ingredients: Serves 5-6 people

400g of dried elbows pasta

300g chicken breast meat (thinly sliced, marinated with some salt and 2 tbsp of cornflour)

5-6 stalks of celery (thinly sliced)

1 large carrot (thinly sliced)

3-4 cloves of garlic (diced)

1 large onion (diced)

1 can of evaporated milk (about 300ml) 

50g of butter

3-4 tbsp of fish sauce (approximated to taste)

1/2 a cube of chicken stock

Black pepper

Click to read more!

STEP 1: PREPARE ALL THE INGREDIENTS

1. Slice the chicken and marinade it.
2. Slice up the carrots and celery.
3. Dice up the onion and garlic.

STEP 2: BOIL THE PASTA

Boil a pot of water with salt added in it.

Dump 400g of pasta in it!

Cook until it is still slightly hard. Not totally cook through.

STEP 3: START COOKING THE SOPAS!

Grab a new pot! Heat up!

Melt the butter in the pot.

Throw in the onion and garlic. Fry until they are fragrant.

Add in the chicken slices and fry until they're semi-cooked.

Next, throw in the celery and carrot. Just mix about and let them cook
for about 3-4 minutes.

Yay! Wonderful colors.

Add about 5-6 cups of water into the pot. Ensure that the water covers all the
ingredients in the pot.

Close the lid and let it come to a boil!

Once it boils, throw in the semi-cooked pasta and mix well.

Also, pour the whole can of evaporated milk into the pot and mix well.
At this point, you should also add in the fish sauce. You can adjust the taste
to your own liking. Since fish sauce is already salty, there is no need to add salt.

Let it boil for another 2-3 minutes. Add in a few dash of black pepper!
Mix well for one last time! ☺

STEP 4: SERVE HOT!

Remember to eat it while it's hot! Creamy stuff don't taste as good when
it becomes cold! Perfect for a rainy day! ♥♥♥

I hope you like this recipe!

Happy cookin' ☺