Canja de galinha (Portuguese chicken soup)

Canja de galinha is Portugal’s chicken soup — and Portugal’s answer to nearly everything: illness, heartbreak, cold weather, new babies, late nights. A clear, golden broth from a good hen, tiny pasta, shredded chicken and the quiet genius touch of fresh mint.

The old-fashioned canja was made from a free-range hen and served with the tiny unlaid eggs found inside — a delicacy my generation remembers and today’s supermarkets have made nearly impossible. This version borrows a clever, practical stand-in: hard-boiled quail eggs.

It is gentle, restorative cooking — one pot, mostly simmering time — and the mint at the end is not optional. That is the taste of a Portuguese childhood.

Canja de Galinha Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes · Cook time: about 1 hour 15 minutes · Total: about 1½ hours · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~433 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 to 2½ pounds free-range chicken (or stewing hen), halved
• 1 medium carrot, peeled
• 1 small onion, peeled
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (whole sprigs)
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 6 cups water, or enough to cover
• 1 cup small pasta (orzo or pastina)
• 8 to 12 quail eggs
• 1 or 2 sprigs fresh mint

Instructions

1. Put the chicken, carrot, onion, parsley and salt in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer about 1 hour, until the chicken is tender.
3. Remove the chicken and vegetables, strain the broth, and skim excess fat.
4. Return the broth to a boil, add the pasta and the unpeeled quail eggs, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until the pasta is al dente and the eggs hard-boiled.
5. Peel the quail eggs and return them to the pot.
6. Shred 1 to 1½ cups of the chicken, mash the carrot with a fork, and add both to the soup.
7. Add the mint, simmer 1 minute more, and serve hot.

Recipe Notes

• A true stewing hen gives deeper broth than a young chicken — worth seeking out at a good butcher.
• Rice instead of pasta is equally traditional; some houses swear by it.
• Canja is Portugal’s official remedy for everything — the mint and the steam do half the healing.