15 March 2013

Chicken Stock

I've always wanted to make soup stock to store away for future use or for that sudden craving for hot soup but I never got around to doing it. However, I recently bought a hugeass casserole pot and I couldn't wait to "break into" the pot by doing my first batch of stock.

I chose to make a chicken stock because firstly, chicken is cheap and also, the stock will be light and sweet. It is perfect to mix into stews or other recipes because it gives a good amount of flavour without overpowering the dish.

You usually will use the bones to make the stock but I rarely eat chicken so I simply used a whole chicken. I got my fresh free-range (or more locally known as kampong) whole chicken from NTUC Xtra.

Did you know you could request the butchers at the meat section to cut up the chicken for you? Well, I didn't know and I was pleasantly surprised when one of the aunties there kindly offered to cut the chicken up for me. Less work for me when I get back home, score!

I had plenty of vegetables in the fridge so I decided to add some to the stock to give it more flavour and vitamins.

I used:
a whole chicken (cut into small pcs)
carrots
celery
onions
butter
bay leaves

Heat the butter (or your ideal cooking fat) and add the onions. Saute them over low heat to let the sweet juices of the onions come out naturally. Avoid burning the onions as this will give a bitterness to the overall taste of the stock.

When the onions are about done, place the carrots and celery in and saute them for about 5 - 10 mins. If you can spare the time, do it over low heat for a longer time as this will really bring out the flavour of the vegetables rather than getting them simply boiled in water.















Next, add about half of the chicken pcs to the sauteed vegetables. Mix them for a bit, season with salt and black pepper and turn them around in the pot until the chicken changes colour.

Finally, place in the remaining chicken pcs and add hot water to cover everything. I kept the celery leaves from the celery earlier on and added them in together with some bay leaves.

Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer. I let mine sit for about 4 hours.

























Let it cool, and strain the stock into mason jars or whatever storage jars/containers you may have.

You can store the stock in the fridge or freezer. Fridge for a few days and freezer up to months.




1 comment:

  1. Making chicken stock is too troublesome. I just buy chicken thigh with lots of fats.. Pan fried skin side down to render all the fats.. then add organic vegetable stock cube for a quick chicken soup!

    ReplyDelete