Chicken Bone Broth w. Leftovers

Cook Time: ~2 Hours

Bone broth is great because it’s both delicious and nutritious. The ingredients in this broth are fantastic for gut and skin health, immune support, joints, and hydration. It’s simple to make, and a great way to make use of leftover chicken bones and odd vegetables lying around in the fridge. The flavour is deeply satisfying, with a slight kick from the chilli and peppercorn.

I try to consume a cup of broth every day. Each time I cook chicken, I wash the bones and store them in the freezer. Once enough bones have been accumulated, it’s the key ingredient for another batch of broth.

• Serves: 2-6

• Prep: ~5 minutes

• Cook: ~60 minutes

Ingredients

• 2L of water

• 1.5 tbsp black peppercorns

• 1x red onion

• 1x white onion

• 1x shallot

• 9x red chillis

• 8 cloves of garlic

• 1x chicken stock cube

• 2x bay leaves

• Bunch of spring onion

• Thumb of ginger

• Chicken bones (~500g)

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Notes

• Alternatives: This recipe will hold up using different bones. For example, a beef bone broth also works perfectly.

  • This also works as a great method for recipes that require poaching chicken and making a broth afterwards. Follow the initial steps with chicken flesh and once poached, remove the bones from the flesh, drop them back into the broth and simmer for another 45 minutes.

• Heat: I like adding 9-10 chillies which may be too much of a kick for some. This broth needs some element of heat, so for the spice intolerant, I recommend 3-4 chillies.

• Portion: In a house of two people, who consume this daily, this should last a week.

• Freezer: This broth is freezable.

Equipment

• Large pot

• Muslin cloth or strainer

• Sieve or colander

Mise En Place

• Wash and trim the spring onions, and cut them in half.

• Slice the onions into halves, don’t worry about the skin.

• Lightly bash the garlic, don’t worry about the skin.

• Slice the ginger and chillis into halves, no need to peel.

• Pour water into a pot and throw in all your ingredients, apart from the stock cube.

The Cook

Bring the pot up to a roaring boil, and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Throw in the stock cube and let simmer for at least two hours, occasionally stirring.

Tip: The longer this simmers, the greater the extraction of flavour and collagen. I reccomend two hours at the minimum, which is fine if you don’t have all day to sit around a stove. If you do decide to simmer for 2 hours, be sure to remove the garlic once it goes brown and mushy.

Taste the broth to ensure it has the flavour you want. You can throw in an additional stock cube if you like. Once satisfied, line a sieve or colander with a muslin cloth (or alternative) and strain the liquid. It should be a somewhat cloudy, light brown, liquid.

Tip: This will last all week in the fridge. Once regrigareted for ~24 hours, it should start to congeal into a jelly-like substance. This is a positive sign that a good amount of collagen has been extracted from the bones. Simply heat in a pot until hot, serve, and enjoy. I like a splash of lemon juice in mine.

If you attempt this dish, let me know how it goes, and if you variate the recipe in any way. This newsletter relies upon word of mouth, so if you know someone who would enjoy this recipe please share it.

Thanks for reading,

Conor