When it comes to chicken soup, you've got nearly endless options: Make a rich, homemade stock, or buy stock-in-a-box. Include noodles, beans, rice, dumplings, matzoh balls—or go bare-bones, sipping the broth alone. You can go Jewish grandma. You can go Mexican grandma. You can go Thai grandma.
But whichever chicken soup route you go, know this: in the end, every chicken soup needs one thing: a lemon.
Lemons are a chicken soup game changer. Why? They brighten up and balance the salty, rich flavors of the dish, and make all of the ingredients come into line. Like a vinaigrette on a salad, the pickle on a burger, and the sour cream in a coffee cake, a squeeze of lemon gives chicken soup a game-changing brightness. And in fact, when it comes to soup, the fresh, fruity acid is even more magical and more pronounced, because it's added at the end.
So simple, right? But wait—there are some guidelines to squeezing the lemon.
Add at the finish (and to bowls, not the pot)
The time to add lemon juice to your soup is just before eating and not a moment sooner. You don't want to cook (or reheat) citrus in your soup, not even for a minute or two, or it'll lose its punch and may turn bitter. Also, anything green, such as peas and fresh greens, will hold both its flavor and color best when acidic elements are added off the heat and just before eating. So, squeeze your citrus directly into individual bowls of hot soup just before serving, or set wedges alongside and let your guests squeeze their own.
Donna Hay uses lemon balm and zest. I say, go for the juice.
When to use Lemon and when to go Lime
Typically, Mediterranean flavored soups, which include Greek-, Italian-, Turkish- and Middle Eastern-style soups, are lemon juice-compatible, and Mexican and Asian soups work best with lime. If you're making the latter and find yourself fresh out of limes, don't shy away from an available lemon; you'll still get the bright flavor you're looking for.
Warm 'em up
Lemons keep best in the fridge, but release more of their vibrant juice when they're at room temperature. Take lemons out of the cold a few hours before serving, or skip the think-ahead work and submerge them in a bowl of hot tap water for a few minutes, or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds just to take the chill off.
Seed before serving
Citrus seeds are bitter to the taste and tough to scoop out of a bowl of soup, once they sneak in. Cut the fruit into wedges, then use the tip of a paring knife to remove seeds before serving.
How much is enough
A good rule of thumb is 2 citrus quarters per bowl of soup—and having a few extra wedges never hurt.
