Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Chili Crisp Chicken and Corn Soup
James Ooi—founder of Little Bao Boy, an Asian street food business based in Leeds, England—inspired us with his go-to soup for a quick weeknight dinner. Chicken breast, soy sauce, and canned corn. We were intrigued. Based on his description, we developed this recipe. It requires only a half dozen ingredients and no knife work except the slicing of scallions for garnish. Be sure to use cream-style corn, as Ooi does; it is sweetened and thickened with starch, which are important for the flavor and consistency of the soup. A drizzle of chili crisp adds color and spiciness, but toasted sesame oil is a good alternative.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t use boneless, skinless chicken breast, as it will yield a bland, watery soup. The recipe does not call for broth or stock. The bones and skin from a split breast supply flavor and richness to the base.
40 minutes
Ingredients
-
1
large bone-in, skin-on chicken breast (about 1 pound)
-
1
tablespoon soy sauce, plus more to serve
Directions
-
01In a large saucepan, combine 6 cups water, the chicken, soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, then reduce to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the thickest part of the breast reaches 165°F, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a large plate; set aside to cool. Meanwhile, stir both cans of corn into the broth, then remove the pan from the heat.
Reviews
February 28, 2026
Big comfort, small effort
I happened to have some homemade chicken stock, so I just poached a couple boneless, skinless chicken breasts in that and proceeded with the recipe. I also added a few handfuls of baby spinach toward the end of cooking.
This soup is exactly what I would want someone to make for me if I were under the weather: it's not exciting food, but gentle and benevolent. Does it make sense to describe a soup that way? Recommended.
January 22, 2026
Superb easy dish
This recipe works wonderfully as is. Only change i made were skimming the scum while poaching the chicken breast. Also the pepper floats to the top and gets caught in the scum, so i would add it later
November 10, 2025
Very easy
I thought it needed a third can of corn and about a Tbsp of better than bouillon, perhaps because 2 cans were "no salt added"
September 26, 2025
This isn’t a bad basic recipe
Made it as written but I will remake with garlic ginger and more corn
September 8, 2025
Simple and good
I made this soup as written. It was simple and good. To my taste it needed more salt. I will probably add some Better than Bullion to the water next time. I also think that it would be better if I add some local corn that I froze this summer.
Become A Subscriber To Rate and Review All Our Recipes.
Please Log in or join today for $1.
