Chicken Broth from Scratch

Just before turning the heat on, the local chicken is nestled with vegetables

These days I'm cooking more; even though our office is in Causeway Bay where there is a plethora of dining options, they aren't easy on the wallet, nor are they satisfying.

In the past year I have resorted to cooking my own lunches, usually large batches of soups that I scoop into boxes and put in the freezer before re-heating one in the morning and putting the hot soup in a thermos that will keep it warm for lunchtime. Then I splurge on bread at Eric Kayser to accompany my lunch.

Earlier this week I was given a local chicken from Tai On farm in the New Territories, and since my toaster oven is too small to roast it, I decided to make chicken broth from it last night.

Through research online I discovered chicken broth is different from stock -- the former is making a soup with the meat and bones, while the latter is only the bones; I thought the two words were interchangeable!

In any event I placed the chicken (minus the head and organs) into the large wok I have, together with onions, leeks, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves, black peppercorns and salt. I did add a sprig of coriander that turned the broth slightly green. Also forget using dried oregano -- stick to fresh parsley, and fill the pot up with water and turn on the heat.

I should have chopped up the chicken, and ended up having to cut the feet off as the broth was already steaming hot... not smart, but oh well. The broth simmered for about an hour and a half, when the meat was falling off the bone. I took the chicken out of the pot and let the broth simmer a bit longer.

The chicken meat was delicious -- what I tried without devouring the whole thing. It had a chicken taste that's not found in North American birds. It's also much smaller in size too.

After the broth was taken off the heat and cooled down, I first poured the broth into a colander and then a fine sieve strainer that didn't let oil molecules through -- there was a lot of oil. Then the broth went into the refrigerator overnight as well as the chicken meat that I pulled off the carcass and placed in another container in the fridge.

This morning I made chicken vegetable soup with onions, garlic, leeks, carrots and celery, barley and corn. When I put the broth in, it was gelatinous from the carcass, bones and skin. Amazing! When it was heated up again it became a broth again. I managed to make four servings' worth of soup and included some of the chicken meat too.

Lunch this week is going to be delish!