THE OG CHICKEN SOUP

Somewhere in this recipe, you'll realise that it calls you to poach and entire whole chicken in the broth, then take it out again to shred the meat to put back into the pot. Well that's weird, you'll think to yourself. Does she not know how to cut chicken into smaller pieces?
I find that putting in a whole chicken allows me to really utilise the entire chicken including the main skeleton, getting all the flavour and goodness out of the bones and into the broth. Sort of like a chicken sup/bone broth crossover. Which is a pretty good crossover, I think.
For this particular soup, I'm using a spring chicken (a spring chicken is a smaller chicken, about 1kg per bird), which makes for at least 4 servings.

What You Need:
1 whole chicken, medium sized (about 1kg)
1 White onion, chopped
1 stalk Celery, sliced
1 or 2 Carrots, peeled and sliced
1 soup spice mix (or, 1 cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms, 2 star anise)
6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 cm Sliced ginger
2 medium Potatoes, peeled and cubed (OR, a handful of rice or a handful of orzo)
1/2 cup Frozen peas
Coriander (or parsley, or dill)
Lemon juice
Salt and coarse pepper

What You Do:
1. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat a couple tsp oil and sautee your onions, celery and carrots. We're not looking to brown them - rather, we're just trying to get them to cook down and sweeten. 
2. Add your whole garlic, sliced ginger, and spice mix. Season, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Add the whole chicken. Cover the entire bird with water. Add potatoes, season again, and put the lid on. On medium heat, poach the chicken until it has cooked through (this took me about 30-40 minutes).
4. Remove the chicken into a large plate/bowl (be careful!), and turn the heat off. After the chicken has cooled down and is manageable, debone the chicken and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
5. Turn the heat on the pot again on low, add the chicken meat back into the pot, together with the peas. Taste for adjustment in seasonings, if necessary.
6. At the final minute, squeeze some lemon juice and add some chopped coriander (or parsley). 
7. Serve piping hot, with some bread if you'd like. I also like a few dots of chili oil on top of the soup for an extra kick.