Singapore Pepper Chicken Soup | Chi Kut Teh

Clean the chicken thigh fillets and cut them into larger, bite-sized pieces. Remove the outer papery dry skin from the whole heads of garlic, but leave the cloves intact and trim off the root ends (this way they will steam until buttery-soft and creamy during cooking). Clean and slice the shiitake mushrooms, peel the fresh ginger and cut it into thin slices. Chop the spring onions and fresh coriander for serving.

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the ginger slices and prepared heads of garlic, then saute for 2 minutes until the intense aromatic oils are released.

Add the chicken thigh pieces and sliced shiitake mushrooms to the pot, then saute for another 3-4 minutes until the meat turns opaque. Sprinkle with ground white pepper and mix thoroughly.