The other day I tumbled a fist full of chopped-up garlic, onion, celery tops and fresh ginger root into a stock pot, along with a cut-up chicken, red pepper flakes and peppercorns. Then added enough water to cover the whole affair, along with a pinch of salt.
It simmered gently until its fragrant-chickeny-luscious aroma permeated every corner of the house, at which point I lifted the lid and removed the falling-off-the-bone chicken pieces. I let them cool until they could be handled without inflicting much pain, then pulled off most of the tender morsels of meat before returning the bones and scraps to the pot where they would continue to flavor the broth as it simmered for another hour or so.
The cooked chicken has been wrapped and tucked away in the freezer. And the strained broth, after a night of chilling so I can scrape off the fat, will also end up in deep freeze.
It’s that fresh chunked-up knob of ginger root that will set all future creations made from this liquid gold on a path far removed from most broth-based creations. I could have added fresh cilantro, of course, and even a couple wedges of Meyer lemons, but that would have been too rigid a governor. When I pull this broth from the freezer down the road, it will provide a subtle Asian influence to a broad range of soups and stews without overstating itself.
One of the soups that will benefit from my gingered chicken broth is an elegant but simple preparation called Chinatown Mushroom Soup. It’s a combination of fresh mushrooms, thin Asian-style noodles, green onions, a bit of Black Forest ham, and a splash of fresh lime juice for zing. I may even throw in a few pieces of the ginger-infused chicken that I just put in the freezer.
First, however, I turned some of the freshly made gingered chicken broth into a hot and sour soup. With this recipe, I have moved far away from the traditional Chinese hot and sour soup one encounters in most Chinese restaurants. It’s the way my husband and I prefer it: strong on bean curd, and completely lacking in bamboo shoots. The green onions are its backbone, their mellow-yet-oniony flavor mingling with the ginger-laced chicken broth, the two components acting in concert to lift this soup out of the commonplace into the extraordinary.
In late spring, I’ll substitute plumper, slightly heartier bunch onions as they become available at the farmers market. The texture is a bit coarser than the simple green onion, but the soup can certainly stand up to the variation.
Gingered chicken broth
8cups water
214-ounce cans double strength chicken broth, undiluted
1whole chicken, approximately 5 pounds
1head fresh garlic
2cups coarsely chopped celery, including stalks and leaves
1yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3/4cup coarsely chopped fresh ginger root (no need to peel)
1tablespoon red chile flakes
2teaspoons salt
1tablespoon whole peppercorns
Add the water, canned broth and chicken to a large stock pot. Peel away the papery outer skin from the head of garlic, then place the head on its side on a cutting board and make 1/4-inch thick cuts down through the cloves so that you end up with a pile of coarsely chopped pieces of garlic. Add the garlic to the pot, along with the celery, onion, ginger root, chile flakes, salt and peppercorns.
Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for about 1 hour, until the chicken is very tender. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and let them sit until they’re cool enough to handle.
Cut most of the meat away from the bone and set aside. It’s okay to leave some meat on the bones — it will help flavor the broth. Return the bones and meat scraps to the pot and continue cooking the broth for another couple of hours, covered, at a very low simmer. Remove from heat.
Pour the broth through a strainer into a large, wide container (or two containers) so the broth can cool quickly, pressing down on the strained bones and vegetables to squeeze out as much broth as possible. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight so the fat will separate from the broth, then scrape off the fat. Spoon the chilled broth into appropriate-sized containers and refrigerate or freeze. Makes about 10 cups of broth.
The cooked chicken meat can be used immediately, or packaged for the refrigerator or freezer.
Makes about 4 cups of meat.
Shortcut for gingered chicken broth: If you already have a batch of chicken broth, or even if you want to start with 10 cups of canned chicken broth, simply pour it into a pot, add about 1 cup of coarsely chopped fresh ginger, 1 head of coarsely chopped garlic, and about 1 tablespoon of red chile flakes and simmer for about 2 hours, covered. Strain and cool before pouring into appropriate-sized containers for the freezer.
Chinatown mushroom soup
8cups Gingered Chicken Broth
1pound fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
8ounces of fresh, thin Asian-style noodles, cooked
1bunch of green onions, washed and thinly sliced into 1- to 2-inch strips (white, pale green, and about 1 inch of the dark green)
1/4pound of Black Forest ham (or other good quality ham), thinly sliced, then julienne cut
3tablespoons fresh lime juice
2tablespoons soy sauce
2teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
Enoki mushrooms for garnish
In a large pot, heat the broth with the crimini mushrooms, noodles, green onions, ham, lime juice, soy sauce and sesame oil. To serve, ladle a portion of the soup into each bowl, then garnish with some of the cilantro and enoki mushrooms.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Hot and sour soup with gingered chicken broth and chili-soy dumpling sauce
7cups gingered chicken broth (recipe above)
1/2cup rice vinegar
2tablespoons soy sauce
1cup chopped green onions (all the white and half the green portions of about 6 onions)
11-pound block firm tofu, drained well and sliced into 1/2-inch long by 1/4-inch thick julienne strips
10dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced into thin shreds (see note)
1tablespoon commercially made chili-garlic sauce
1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 to 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
In a large pot, combine the broth, vinegar, soy sauce, green onions, tofu, mushrooms, and chili-garlic sauce, and the sesame oil. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the temperature to medium-low, and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 15 minutes to give the flavors a chance to merge and develop. Adjust the seasonings, adding additional vinegar, soy sauce and chili-garlic sauce as desired.
Just before serving, bring the soup back to a slow boil. While slowly stirring the soup in one direction, slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs in the other direction. The egg will cook quite quickly in the hot broth and blossom out into feathery strips and bits. Serve immediately.
Note: To reconstitute the dried mushrooms, place them in a deep bowl, cover with about 1 cup of boiling water, and let sit for about 30 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and pliable. To keep the mushrooms submerged as they reconstitute, place a saucer or plate on top and weight it with a heavy object, such as a can or a coffee mug, to keep the floating mushrooms submerged.
When slicing, you’ll discover that some of the stems are much too tough to slice. Set those aside for another use.
Serves 8.
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