Amidst the chilly Spring showers that have been frequenting my geographic location, I felt inspired to recreate a soup-for-the-soul warming broth. If you're looking for a complete Hainan Chicken Rice recipe, look no further than Woks of Life for a good reference, but there are plenty of other good references out there too.
My Recipe:
Cookware:
Stainless steel pot
Chef's Knife
Filtering/Strainer Ladle
Tasting Spoon
Ingredients:
Parts of a whole chicken (or a whole chicken), I used leftover Rotisserie chicken bones, with bits of cartilage, skin, fat, tendon, otherwise not edible for other dishes
Sea salt
Ginger
Scallion
Garlic (optional)
Water
Directions:
Fry the chicken pieces in the pot, allowing the schmaltz to render out a bit, and brown -- this will help create and impart more flavor into the broth.
Once the bottom of the pot is entirely lubricated with a thin layer of schmaltz, add in aromatics (ginger and scallion - I plucked large green pieces from the garden). For a clear broth / fine-dining experience, I recommend grinding the ginger into a fine paste.
Fry again for a bit to impart aromatic flavors.
Add water, put on high heat to boil, then simmer until preferred done-ness.
I knew mine was done when the broth had a milky, full-bodied color and the meat fell off the chicken bones and the cartilage was soft.
I added some pinches of salt to taste. I use a tasting spoon for this.
Using a filtering ladle, I removed all the inedible meat and bone bits (still left in residual green onion and tasty meat bits)
Et voila! Enjoy!
I found this broth was INCREDIBLE for using as a base for other soups - I tried different versions, one where I added to a doenjang jjigae, the other where I added spice powder-paste on top, and it tasted AMAZING. One could also use as a base for porridge - the options are endless!