Hmong Postpartum Chicken Soup Recipe

The great thing about Hmong chicken soup is that it’s completely customizable to your preference. This recipe is a very basic outline of what a typical chicken soup may look like. Adjust as needed.

*Recipe calls for use of the tender parts of the herbs. If you only have the older tougher parts, go ahead and use those since they’ll still add the aroma and flavor that you need in your soup. Those parts should be added in at Step 4 (in cooking steps, below) to allow for a longer cooking period. Due to the toughness of these parts, they should be fished out and discarded at the end.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

4 quarts water

1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 3-4 inch lengthwise pieces

4 large Zej Tshua Ntuag leaves

5 Pawj Qaib leaves

5, 2-3 inch long tender tips of Ntiv 

5, 2-3 inch long tender tips of Xuv Ntsim 

5, large leaves or tender tips of Ncas Liab

2, 1-2 inch long sprigs of either Nkaj Liab Hmoob or Nkaj Liab Meeka (or one of each)

5 large tender Tshuaj Rog Liab tips

1 cup or handful of Koj Liab

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste



  1. Cut up whole chicken into small manageable pieces, removing any excess fat.

  2. Add chicken, lemongrass, salt and water into a large pot. Bring to a boil.

  3. Remove scum that surfaces to the top.

  4. Allow chicken to boil at high heat for 30-40 minutes or until cooked, occasionally stirring and removing excess oil or scum.

  5. Add all washed herbs into the boiling pot. Allow broth to come to a rapid boil for about 3-5 minutes.

  6. Remove from heat. Fish out and discard the lemongrass pieces.

  7. Stir in black pepper.

  8. Enjoy with a bowl of hot rice, and optionally with a side of Hmong pepper.