Pork and Chicken Bone Broth
Traditions. Underlying all the hustle and bustle of the festive period are age old traditions passed from generation to generation. They are many and vary between families, as well as dialect groups.
One seemingly universal tradition is that of the reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year, 团圆饭 . The whole family reunites and gathers for a big, abundant feast. One popular meal is steamboat, which happens to be my family’s tradition as well.
I love the idea of a steamboat for a large gathering of close family or friends, because it always ends up being an exuberant, drawn out affair. The activity keeps everyone engaged, bonding over their ‘self-cooked’ meals. Imagine the cheers when a piece of fish that had gone rogue in the bubbling pot has been caught, post a vigorous fishing expedition with a mishmash of utensils!
There are various guidelines around what ingredients should be served for luck and symbolism, but our family favourites are as follows:
– Sliced fish
– Sliced beef
– Sliced pork
– Prawns
– Fried beancurd rolls
– Egg tofu
– Homemade wontons / dumplings
– A variety of green leafy vegetables
– Enoki mushrooms
– Lotus root
– Noodles (cooked right at the end in the tastiest version of the broth, sometimes enjoyed with an egg cracked on top)
We cook all of this in a bubbling pork and chicken bone broth that’s prepared ahead of time. The recipe for this healthy and tasty broth is shared below. It takes patience, but very little active work is involved. I like to roast the bones and meat first for the Maillard effect, to get a richer, more flavourful broth. After roasting, you simply put everything together in a large stock pot and let it bubble away. The longer you cook the bones, the more goodness you extract from them! If you have a pressure cooker, I’m sure you can do this in half the time but I’m still using a good old stock pot.
There is no need to over season your broth, as it will get more flavourful over the course of your steamboat session. If you’re having prawns, throw in the heads at the start for a little extra flavour. By the time you’re drinking a bowl of soup at the end of the meal, it will be so delicious. I promise.
As you can imagine, you would expect a ton of leftovers. To be honest, one of my favourite parts of steamboat is the remaining broth. I love to turn it into a comforting porridge or wonton noodle soup another day. You can do the same with this broth, even if it hasn’t been used for a steamboat base beforehand. It really is so versatile and great to have in your fridge any day.
Might be good idea to cook up a batch this weekend, so you can replenish your energy and immunity with a healthy, cozy and easy meal after the extra social Chinese New Year period. Stay healthy!
Pork and Chicken Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 350 g Large pork bones chopped
- 350 g Pork bones with some meat
- 750 – 1000 g Skin on, bone in chicken drumsticks 4 – 5
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Neutral cooking oil
- 5 Dried shiitake mushrooms
- 3 Dried scallops
- 2 Large yellow onions cut in half
- 2 inch Thumb of ginger roughly chopped
- 3 Large carrots roughly chopped
- 3 Large scallion / chinese leek stalks roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp Whole peppercorns
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1 tbsp Goji berries
- 2 tsp Sea salt
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
- 6 l Water
Instructions
- Soak pork bones in fresh water for 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 200°C, line a baking tray with thick foil and oil well
- Rinse off pork bones a few times, until water runs clear. This should keep your broth clear
- Dry off pork bones, then place all on the oiled baking tray along with the chicken drumsticks
- Place in the oven and roast for 40 minutes at 200°C to brown
- Soak the dried mushrooms and dried scallops in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes
- In the meantime, prep / chop all the other ingredients. In the last 5 minutes of roasting, bring 4 litres of water to a boil in a large stock pot
- Add onions, ginger, carrot, leeks, peppercorns, bay leaves, goji berries, dried mushrooms & scallops with their soaking liquid to the boiling water
- When the bones and chicken drumsticks are roasted, add to the stockpot as well. Add any juices that have collected in the baking tray
- Simmer for about 5 hours, stirring every so often and topping up water as required to keep everything submerged. Your stock will reduce by about half by the end
- Towards the end, add in the shaoxing wine and salt to taste
- Once you have taken the pot off the heat, let cool for a couple hours
- Remove the large pieces from the pot and set aside. Sieve the rest of the liquid so its clear and store in airtight jars in the fridge for up to a couple weeks. When using, heat to a boil again.
Notes
