Ingredients for a homemade Chicken Stock
Photo: Tim Elwin
A warm hearty meal to feed the family, especially during the colder months....
Serves 4
Ingredients - Soup Base Easy Way
- 1 Litre of good quality chicken stock
- 1 small clove of garlic, peels and cut in half
- 2 x 3mm slices of fresh ginger
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into ½ cm discs
- 1 bay leaf
Ingredients - Soup Base Best Way
- 1 whole free-range chicken, Breasts removed and reserved
- 2 small brown onions, skin on, roots removed & quartered
- 1 long stick of celery, roughly chopped
- 3 litres of cold water
- 2 small cloves of garlic, skin on and cut in half
- 2 x 3mm slices of fresh ginger, skin on
- 2 medium carrots, skin on. whole or chopped, whatever you want
- 1 bay leaf
Ingredients - Main
- 2 pieces of Chicken Breasts, skin removed
- Bok Choy or Pak Choy, shredded (green part thick, white part thinly)
- 250-300gms Noodles (preferably thin egg noodles however which ever are your favourite)
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
- 1 bunch of Chives, finely chopped
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
Method - Easy Soup Base
Place all the soup base ingredients into a pot and simmer on a medium to high heat for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are tender and the stock as reduced by 30% to intensify the flavour. strain and place back into a pot.
Method - Best Soup Base (plus will give you extra stock)
Place all “the best way” soup ingredients (except the chicken breasts) into a large pot or a pressure cooker and fill with approximately 2-3 litres of cold water until the chicken is 1-2cm below the top of the water line. Pressure cook or if using a pot, bring to a rapid boil then drop to a simmer for 90 minutes. If in pot, skimming any impurities (dirty foam) and fats off the top every 20-30 minutes.
After 90 minutes, strain the stock into a smaller pot (retaining the chicken and vegetables) and place back onto the heat bringing it to a rapid boil until the stock is reduced by half (this will intensify the flavour of the stock). This should take around 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, coat the chicken breasts in olive oil and sea salt then pan-fry until cooked through and rest for 10 minutes. After rested, slice into 5mm thick pieces.
Cook your noodles to the instructions on the packet.
Once the noodles are cooked, broth is reduced and the chicken breasts have rested it’s time to plate up.
Place some noodles at the bottom of a bowl, then sprinkle with the shredded Bok Choy and place 4-5pcs of the chicken on top. Pour the steaming hot stock over then sprinkle with chives and toasted sesame seeds then serve.
NOTE: pick the chicken meat off the marylands & wings to keep for another meal (like shredded chicken salad or enchiladas etc
© Tim Elwin 2011