Once upon a time on YouTube, I remember watching Jamie Oliver assemble a soup stock as part of an introductory cooking series. Every time I think about fighting with that last pesky layer of onion skin, I think of what J.O. said many years ago in the video “put the skins in, don’t waste your time, we will strain it all out later.” In the kitchen and in the studio, there is always so much to think about. Start with the basics, improve your knife skills along the way, and make your own chicken broth with the following steps and ingredients.

Aromatics + Vegetables

1 Whole heart of celery, cleaned and roughly chopped

1 stock of lemon grass, 6 inch length sliced in half, root end intact

1-2 Bay leafs

2 Garlic cloves, crushed, skinned then cut in quarters

2 large sweet potatoes, roughly chopped

4 onions, root ends removed, skins on and quartered

4 carrots, skinned and cut into half inch rounds

Chicken for Fat, Flavour and Collagen

Choose from backs, legs, thighs, whole birds stripped or whole with meat. For an extra large stock pot, yielding approximately 16 servings, start with 4-5 lbs of bone-in chicken parts.

Each type is different and may require skimming more fat off near the end of the cooking and preserving process. Most often, we use a combination of drum sticks and backs.

Other:

Acid, often I use the juice from a 1/4 freshly squeezed lemon
Salt, remove some water, and bring out the flavours of the vegetables and chicken parts with mindfully generous sprinkles of salt.
Water, enough to cover ingredients in stock pot, or less for a more flavourful broth.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and assemble chicken parts evenly.
Sprinkle generously with salt and roast in oven for 20-30 minutes.

On the stove top, turn on the heat to medium, add a small glug of olive oil to an extra large stock pot.
Prepare the fresh ingredients and cook in the pot until fragrant

Remove chicken from the oven, and place on stove top with sautéed aromatics and vegetables.
Cover with water and bring to an aggressive boil.
Adjust the heat on the stove top to low and transition the ingredients to a low rolling boil for the next few hours. I feel that six to eight hours is sufficient.

Strain the liquids from the aromatics. Chill the liquid overnight, and discard the chicken and vegetables.
Once fully chilled, the fat will form a hard layer on the top. Skim off and reserve to add back to portioned soup stocks after.

For two people we fill our freezer safe vessels with 500 ml of liquid and add back one tablespoon of fat back to the broth.
Enjoy with vegetables and noodles in soups, or add to homemade curries and braises. Start with the basics, and add your own secret ingredient — perhaps a chili pepper to add some heat.

Homemade Chicken Broth

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