While growing up in Boston, my family and I frequently visited Chinatown to explore the restaurants. One of our favorites was Carl’s Pagoda. It was an unassuming place with outdated décor, but the food was something else. You would not normally expect a Chinese restaurant to serve tomato soup, but Carl’s made it a specialty. It had a real gingery taste that was clean and pungent. The first time that I tried to recreate this soup, I had just finished grilling marinated chicken for our salads, and decided to add some. It worked beautifully, and people thought the soup had such a unique flavor that I decided to keep making it with the chicken. When I brought the soup to the “Phantom Gourmet” television show in Boston, the show’s producers and hosts, brothers Dan and Dave Andelman, also remembered the Carl’s Pagoda soup from their childhood.

Ingredients:

Chicken
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 whole (about 1 pound each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Soup
3 tablespoons peanut oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 large Spanish onions, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cans (28 ounce each) whole tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried coriander
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups sherry
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

For the chicken: In a large glass or ceramic bowl, mix the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, and vinegar. Add the chicken breasts and stir until completely coated with the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat a grill or broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill or broil until cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. When cool enough to handle, cut into thin slices. Set aside.

For the soup: Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat and add the peanut oil. Add the garlic, ginger, onions, celery, and carrots. Sauté for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, coriander, red pepper flakes, stock, and sherry. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer, covered, for 35 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, and cilantro. Puree with a regular blender or hand blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pot if using a regular blender. Season with salt and pepper and add the slices of chicken breast.

Makes 8 to 10 servings. When making this recipe, don’t be tempted to substitute ginger powder, as the fresh ginger root is essential to the flavor. Since ginger grows in large clumps, you’ll probably be purchasing a piece of a root. Look for unwrinkled skin and an unblemished end where it was snapped off the larger root. Peel off the tough, outer layer of skin before using.