Chicken Soup Around the World

Whether you grew up slurping Bubbe's matzo ball soup or perhaps a lip-tingling medley laced with curry paste and lime juice, one thing is for sure: Chicken soup is a bridge between cultures. For time immemorial, people all across the globe have been simmering chicken and vegetables in homemade broth. Some renditions are spicy, others mild; some include coconut milk or tomatoes, others demand a clear broth. And although you'll always have a soft spot for the recipe you grew up on, these international renditions are so very worthy of your spoon.

This is a classic matzo ball soup, a one-pot dish that will certainly cure whatever ails you. Using chicken fat from the broth as well as seltzer creates incredibly light and fluffy matzo balls.

This thick, aromatic Filipino-style soup gets much of its flavor from ginger and fried garlic. Saffron, a Spanish influence on Filipino cooking, adds a golden hue. If you can find calamansi, the small Filipino limes, substitute them for conventional limes.

This fragrant soup is a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken. Even if you only have half of a chicken left, whatever meat you have left can go in at the end.