I just have to say, what a strange year this has been so far! I recently went over to New Zealand for a little vacation time with a girlfriend of mine and didn’t realize that an earthquake would be included in the package! We flew into Christchurch and luckily only felt tiny aftershocks 400km away in Queenstown when it occurred. Praying for smooth sailing on my next overseas trip!
Hope you had some luck with the roast chicken on my last article a while back, and maybe you’ve just roasted another one and just happen to have a carcass around. Rather than throwing it out and wasting all the precious minerals and nutrients stored inside the bones and joints, today’s recipe is all about stock. You can make a big batch and freeze whatever you do not need. I make mine with a little a more asian influence and the spices bring out a nice warmth to it. Depending on my mood, I will either make it on the stovetop or just chuck all the ingredients in my slowcooker. I even end up discarding the twice cooked bones into my compost bin because I figure it should be soft enough to decompose by then.
As with all my recipes, mix and match the ingredients with what you have on hand. Nothing is ever set in stone and all our taste buds vary from one person to another.
Ingredients:
1 free range chicken carcass
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
200g kent pumpkin, diced
2cm pice of ginger, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
2 pieces star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp corriander powder
1 tsp white pepper
Directions:
Place chicken carcass in a pot and cover with water.
Add all the ingredients and bring to a boil, taking away as much scum as possible
Simmer for at least 4 hours.
[Pictures courtesy of Sara.Anne and Elanaspantry]
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I have always wanted to know how to make my own chicken stock – just think of how nice would it be to have homemade soup on a cold winter day – so thank you for this! I’m a novice when it comes to things like this though so I have a question, how exactly would you go about removing the scum? Do you have any specific way that it should be done?
Usually I just used a spoon and painstakingly scoop up the scum. Otherwise I’ve found a neat little tool that’s almost like a flour sifter (though the holes are really really really fine) that can lift it out really easily. It also works well with oil! Another way is to just let the stock cool down until the oils emulsify, then it becomes super easy to scoop out.