A chicken soup remedy for grief

Mother Violet, the lady who raised me and my brothers, passed away 10 days ago and we buried her this past Monday. The grief of losing her has been overwhelming, and has taken its toll on me physically. I’ve had a growing desire for some strong, nurturing soup and having been gifted a whole chicken recently, decided to take it out of the freezer and put it to good use today. What could be a better remedy for mourning and melancholy?

Ingredients
1 bunch of Chinese celery, chopped
4 stalks of cilantro, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
8 quarters ginger
splash rice wine
2 x-large carrots, chopped in big-bite sized pieces
1 large onion, quartered
2 sticks cinnamon
Combination of 4 large potatoes: can add sweet or regular
3 zucchini
Sea salt

Garnish with (optional)
Thai basil
Bean sprouts
Chili pepper slices

Steps
Put one whole chicken in a soup pot and cover it with about 1″ of water. Cook covered over simmer flame, and when foam appears, skim it off. Add celery, cilantro, scallions, ginger, rice wine and carrots and continue cooking until chicken becomes tender. Just before the point it will start falling apart, remove the chicken using two spoons. Put on plate, articulate and let cool. Add onion, cinnamon and potatoes. 20 minutes before the potatoes are tender, add zucchini and sea salt to taste. When the zucchini’s done so is your soup.

Salt soup to taste and serve hot! You can serve a piece of chicken directly on top of soup in the bowl, or serve it separately on a plate – either by itself or over rice, if you like.