Chicken and Prawn Saffron Sotanghon

Chicken and prawn sotanghon soup with cabbage, carrots, glass noodles, fish sauce, and saffron-infused chicken broth.  Winter cooking in Zurich means adapting with what’s on hand. A familiar Filipino comfort soup, gently transformed by circumstance, care, and a pinch of something unexpected. #sotanghon #switzerlandseries #comfortfood #filipinocooking

I’ve been here since the first of January, and with just one week left before I return to my usual life in New Zealand, the rhythm of my days in Zurich feels strangely familiar now. The cold no longer shocks me. The walk to the hospital has become routine. And the cooking, especially the cooking, has settled into a quiet pattern shaped by my mom’s needs and requests.

Soup, almost always.
Prawns, whenever possible.
Something warm, nourishing, and familiar.

This Chicken and Prawn Saffron Sotanghon is another improvisation born from that rhythm. It ticks every box she asks for, yet it also reflects where we are right now, geographically, emotionally, and practically.

Sotanghon as Filipino Comfort Language

Sotanghon soup is one of those Filipino dishes that doesn’t need explaining in our culture. It lives somewhere between celebration and recovery food. It appears at wakes, birthdays, rainy afternoons, and sickbeds. It’s light but filling, simple but deeply comforting, and endlessly adaptable.

At its core, sotanghon is about glass noodles suspended in a gently flavoured broth, usually built on chicken, garlic, and onions, with vegetables folded in at the end. What makes it instantly recognisable back home is its colour, that warm orange-red hue that makes the soup look inviting even before the first spoonful.

That colour almost always comes from annatto.

The Role of Annatto in Traditional Sotanghon

In Filipino sotanghon, annatto, or atsuete, is used primarily for its colour, but it does more than just tint the broth. When infused properly, annatto lends a mild earthiness and a quiet depth that supports the chicken and garlic rather than competing with them.

It doesn’t shout. It grounds.

That warm reddish tint also signals comfort. It’s visual reassurance that the soup will taste like home.

Unfortunately, annatto is one of those ingredients that becomes instantly scarce once you step outside Southeast Asia. In Zurich, sourcing it would mean a long hunt and an even longer receipt.

Why Saffron Made Sense Here

What I did have, unexpectedly, was saffron. A full jar of it, sitting quietly in my mom’s kitchen.

Using saffron instead of annatto wasn’t about elevating the dish or making it luxurious. Quite the opposite. It was simply the most practical option available to me. In fact, sourcing annatto here would have cost more than using saffron that was already within arm’s reach.

Saffron changes the soup in subtle but noticeable ways. Instead of annatto’s earthy warmth, saffron brings floral notes, a gentle bitterness, and a golden hue that feels brighter and cleaner. It doesn’t mimic annatto, and it doesn’t try to. It adapts.

And that’s really what this version of sotanghon is about.

A Soup That Reflects Where We Are

This saffron-tinted sotanghon still tastes unmistakably Filipino. The fish sauce anchors it. The garlic and onion form the familiar base. The glass noodles soften and disappear into the broth the way they always have.

But there’s also something new here. The colour is golden instead of red. The aroma carries a faint floral note. The broth feels slightly more refined, though still comforting.

It mirrors this season of my life, familiar, but altered by circumstance.

Cooking this for my mom felt right. She gets the soup she craves. She gets the prawns she loves. And I get to keep feeding her something that feels like home, even when we are far from it.

Improvisation as Survival Cooking

If this Switzerland series has taught me anything, it’s that Filipino cooking thrives on improvisation. We adapt instinctively. We substitute without apology. We cook with memory as much as with ingredients.

This sotanghon doesn’t pretend to be traditional. It doesn’t need to be. It exists because it had to, because winter is deep, time is short, and comfort matters more than correctness.

And if there’s one thing sotanghon has always done well, it’s meet people where they are.

Chicken and Prawn Saffron Sotanghon

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• Author: Raymund
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Filipino

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Description

Chicken and prawn sotanghon soup with cabbage, carrots, glass noodles, fish sauce, and saffron-infused chicken broth.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 600 g chicken thighs, sliced into small sections
• 8 large prawns, peeled and deveined, tails on
• 200 g dried sotanghon (mung bean glass noodles)
• 1/2 head cabbage, shredded
• 1 large carrot, julienned
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 large pinch saffron threads (about 15-20 threads)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• oil

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Instructions

1. Place saffron threads in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of warm chicken stock. Let steep for 15–20 minutes.
2. Soak sotanghon in room-temperature water for 10 minutes until pliable. Drain and cut into shorter lengths if desired.
3. Heat oil in a large pot. Quickly pan-fry the prawns for 1 minute per side until just pink. Remove and set aside. In the same pot, brown the chicken until cooked through. Set aside.
4. Add more oil if needed. Sauté onion and garlic until fragrant. Add carrots and spring onion whites, cooking for 2 minutes.
5. Pour in chicken stock and bloomed saffron liquid. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add sotanghon and cook until transparent. Stir in cabbage, chicken, and prawns. Cook just until the cabbage wilts.
7. Season with fish sauce, salt, and pepper. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.

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