This is the most important weapon in your arsenal to show off your cooking skills. It incredibly enhances the taste of anything if you add some stock when you are cooking it. It is also nutritious. It is also called broth. Some say that when you add seasoning to the stock it becomes broth. This seems a bit trivial. Some others say that stock is made out of bones and trims, while broth is made from meat. If so, then is vegetable stock made of bones? In the early days (according to old novels) broth was consumed during convalescence. Because of this, I thought that broth was some kind of a concentrated stock to give extra nourishment. This is not correct. After spending some time in searching the internet, I could not come up with any pointers to distinguish the difference between the two words. Therefore, I am using both these words as well as the word bouillon interchangeably here.
Now fresh stocks are available in super markets but may turn out to be expensive. Stock cubes and powders are inexpensive but they have high sodium content and may have MSG added to them. If you dilute it to reduce the saltiness you will lose the flavour too. Hence there is the need to make it at home. It is a hassle to make it every time you need it. Therefore people make it in bulk and freeze them. In storage it gradually loses the flavour over time.
The recipe given here is not for a concentrated stock. It is better to freeze the stock in concentrated form. It will become concentrated if the stock is boiled vigorously until the volume of the liquid is reduced to half. It will be much more convenient to store in this form.
150 g dried anchovy without head
50 g dried sole fish
3 shallots peeled and sliced.
2 celery stalks with leaves cut into 1 inch pieces
1 carrot sliced
1 bay leaf
½ lemon sliced
2 sprigs of parsley
5 black pepper corns
1.5 litre water
2 tbs of vegetable oil
Method
1. Rinse and dry anchovy and dried (salted) sole fish
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. Stir fry onion, anchovy and sole fish in low heat it becomes golden brown.
3. Remove everything from the wok and dry them on a paper towel to remove as much oil as possible.
4. In a saucepan add water, fried items and all other ingredients and bring to the boil.
5. Reduce the heat and simmer for about half an hour.
6. Strain the stock. This can be frozen up to 3 months for future use.
Note:
Both anchovy and dried fish are high in sodium. If you are concerned about this, soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes.
Commercially prepared anchovy stock can be purchased in powder or cubes form. You can make about 500 ml of stock from 1 cube or 1 table spoon of powder. These have high sodium content. You may have to dilute it to suite your taste. Concentrated stock sold in liquid form does not contain salt. (?)
3 Celery stalks washed and cut into 1 inch pieces.
2 leeks washed and cut into 1 inch slices.
2 onions cut into large pieces
½ inch piece of ginger sliced thin
2 carrots roughly sliced.
2 oyster mushrooms roughly sliced
10 button mushrooms. Washed and cut into halves.
1 tomato washed and cut into wedges.
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of parsley
3 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
2 tsp salt
2 table spoon vegetable oil
4 litres of water
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan. Lightly brown celery, leeks, onions, carrots and ginger.
2. Add the remaining ingredients into the sauce pan bring to a boil and reduce the flame and simmer in low heat for about 30 minutes. Too low a heat will not be able to bring out all the flavours from the vegetable and too high a heat will boil off some of the delicate flavours.
3. Allow the stock to cool down and strain it with a fine sieve. Skim off any floating fat from the surface of the stock.
4. The stock is ready. It can be left in the refrigerator for 2 days or frozen for up to three months.
Note
If you do not have any vegetable stock which a recipe calls for, you can make it with store bought stock cubes or stock powder. Generally you can add about 500 ml of water to each stock cube to get acceptable quality of stock. The problem is that the stock cube will have more salt than you would normally add to your home made stock. If you find the stock made this way is too salty you can dilute the stock with more water or reduce the amount of stock cube you add to the water by crumbling or cutting the stock cube into smaller pieces. You can also at the same time reduce the quantity or eliminate the amount of salt called for in the recipe.
This is the second most versatile stock after vegetable stock. It is the base for many soups and stews.
Chicken bones
2 kg chicken wings
2 onions washed and peeled and cut into thick pieces
2 carrots thickly sliced
2 stalks of celery stalks cut into thick pieces
1 garlic bulb
1 sprig curry leaf
1 inch ginger
1 lemon grass
1 two inch cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel
1/4 tsp pepper corn or powder
1 table spoon olive oil
Method
1. In a large sauce pan add the onions oil and chicken wings and cook covered over low heat until the onion slices become translucent. Stir frequently to ensure that the chicken wings are coated well with the oil.
2. Add water and bring to the boil. Skim off excess oil and other impurities from the surface of the stock.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer partially covered for about 3 hours stirring occasionally.
Fat removing spoon and Stock being strained in a strainer
4. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.
5. Strain through a fine sieve. Chill in the refrigerator for about one hour. Skim off any floating fat.
6. The stock is ready.
7. You can leave it in the refrigerator for 2 days or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Chicken stock
If you do not have the time to make chicken stock you can always make it from stock cubes or powders that can be purchased from stores. The downside is that they are too salty and also contain MSG. Usually you can make 500 ml of stock for a stock cube by dissolving in warm water. You may have to dilute it very thin to bring the salt level to your taste.
This stock powder can be made at home. The stock made from this powder will taste somewhat like that of the soup powder you find in the dry noodle packets. It will be quite tasty. A level table spoon of this powder will make about 2 cups of light stock.
1 carrot
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
1 sun dried tomato
1 capsicum (red or green) seeded
1 cabbage leaf
Shred the above ingredients in a food processor and dehydrate. If you do not have a dehydrator you can dehydrate them in the kitchen oven at 65 degrees overnight or until all the moisture is removed.
2 tbsp. Chickpea flour
1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. ground sea kelp
1/2 tsp. dill weeds
1/2 tsp. dried alfalfa leaves
½ tsp dries parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
1/8 tsp. dried mint leaves
1/8 tsp. Chilli powder
Microwave the above ingredients for about 30 seconds to make them easier to grind. Add dehydrated vegetable.
Grind all the items in a coffee mill. The stock powder can be stored in a air tight container for up to 6 months.
Like the vegetable stock powder mentioned above this will taste somewhat like the chicken stock powder you find in the dry noodle packets. One level table spoon of this powder will give you 2 cups of stock. This stock can be used as a base for soups and to flavour the rice.
3 table spoon onion powder
2 tea spoon garlic powder
1 tea spoon celery seed
2 table spoon of Italian seasoning
2 table spoon dried parsley
Grind all the above ingredients in a coffee mill and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months in a refrigerator.
Now fresh stocks are available in super markets but may turn out to be expensive. Stock cubes and powders are inexpensive but they have high sodium content and may have MSG added to them. If you dilute it to reduce the saltiness you will lose the flavour too. Hence there is the need to make it at home. It is a hassle to make it every time you need it. Therefore people make it in bulk and freeze them. In storage it gradually loses the flavour over time.
The recipe given here is not for a concentrated stock. It is better to freeze the stock in concentrated form. It will become concentrated if the stock is boiled vigorously until the volume of the liquid is reduced to half. It will be much more convenient to store in this form.
Fish stock
This is a very versatile and easy to make stock.150 g dried anchovy without head
50 g dried sole fish
3 shallots peeled and sliced.
2 celery stalks with leaves cut into 1 inch pieces
1 carrot sliced
1 bay leaf
½ lemon sliced
2 sprigs of parsley
5 black pepper corns
1.5 litre water
2 tbs of vegetable oil
Method
1. Rinse and dry anchovy and dried (salted) sole fish
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. Stir fry onion, anchovy and sole fish in low heat it becomes golden brown.
3. Remove everything from the wok and dry them on a paper towel to remove as much oil as possible.
4. In a saucepan add water, fried items and all other ingredients and bring to the boil.
5. Reduce the heat and simmer for about half an hour.
6. Strain the stock. This can be frozen up to 3 months for future use.
Note:
Both anchovy and dried fish are high in sodium. If you are concerned about this, soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes.
Commercially prepared anchovy stock can be purchased in powder or cubes form. You can make about 500 ml of stock from 1 cube or 1 table spoon of powder. These have high sodium content. You may have to dilute it to suite your taste. Concentrated stock sold in liquid form does not contain salt. (?)
Vegetable Stock
Vegetable stock is the base for many soups, stews and even curries.3 Celery stalks washed and cut into 1 inch pieces.
2 leeks washed and cut into 1 inch slices.
2 onions cut into large pieces
½ inch piece of ginger sliced thin
2 carrots roughly sliced.
2 oyster mushrooms roughly sliced
10 button mushrooms. Washed and cut into halves.
1 tomato washed and cut into wedges.
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of parsley
3 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
2 tsp salt
2 table spoon vegetable oil
4 litres of water
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan. Lightly brown celery, leeks, onions, carrots and ginger.
2. Add the remaining ingredients into the sauce pan bring to a boil and reduce the flame and simmer in low heat for about 30 minutes. Too low a heat will not be able to bring out all the flavours from the vegetable and too high a heat will boil off some of the delicate flavours.
3. Allow the stock to cool down and strain it with a fine sieve. Skim off any floating fat from the surface of the stock.
4. The stock is ready. It can be left in the refrigerator for 2 days or frozen for up to three months.
Note
If you do not have any vegetable stock which a recipe calls for, you can make it with store bought stock cubes or stock powder. Generally you can add about 500 ml of water to each stock cube to get acceptable quality of stock. The problem is that the stock cube will have more salt than you would normally add to your home made stock. If you find the stock made this way is too salty you can dilute the stock with more water or reduce the amount of stock cube you add to the water by crumbling or cutting the stock cube into smaller pieces. You can also at the same time reduce the quantity or eliminate the amount of salt called for in the recipe.
Chicken Stock
 |
| Chicken wings |
2 kg chicken wings
2 onions washed and peeled and cut into thick pieces
2 carrots thickly sliced
2 stalks of celery stalks cut into thick pieces
1 garlic bulb
1 sprig curry leaf
1 inch ginger
1 lemon grass
1 two inch cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel
1/4 tsp pepper corn or powder
1 table spoon olive oil
 |
| Ingredients for chicken stock |
Method
1. In a large sauce pan add the onions oil and chicken wings and cook covered over low heat until the onion slices become translucent. Stir frequently to ensure that the chicken wings are coated well with the oil.
2. Add water and bring to the boil. Skim off excess oil and other impurities from the surface of the stock.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer partially covered for about 3 hours stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.
5. Strain through a fine sieve. Chill in the refrigerator for about one hour. Skim off any floating fat.
6. The stock is ready.
7. You can leave it in the refrigerator for 2 days or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Chicken stock
If you do not have the time to make chicken stock you can always make it from stock cubes or powders that can be purchased from stores. The downside is that they are too salty and also contain MSG. Usually you can make 500 ml of stock for a stock cube by dissolving in warm water. You may have to dilute it very thin to bring the salt level to your taste.
Vegetable Stock Powder
This stock powder can be made at home. The stock made from this powder will taste somewhat like that of the soup powder you find in the dry noodle packets. It will be quite tasty. A level table spoon of this powder will make about 2 cups of light stock.
1 carrot
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
1 sun dried tomato
1 capsicum (red or green) seeded
1 cabbage leaf
Shred the above ingredients in a food processor and dehydrate. If you do not have a dehydrator you can dehydrate them in the kitchen oven at 65 degrees overnight or until all the moisture is removed.
2 tbsp. Chickpea flour
1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. ground sea kelp
1/2 tsp. dill weeds
1/2 tsp. dried alfalfa leaves
½ tsp dries parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
1/8 tsp. dried mint leaves
1/8 tsp. Chilli powder
Microwave the above ingredients for about 30 seconds to make them easier to grind. Add dehydrated vegetable.
Grind all the items in a coffee mill. The stock powder can be stored in a air tight container for up to 6 months.
Vegetarian Chicken Stock Powder
Like the vegetable stock powder mentioned above this will taste somewhat like the chicken stock powder you find in the dry noodle packets. One level table spoon of this powder will give you 2 cups of stock. This stock can be used as a base for soups and to flavour the rice.
3 table spoon onion powder
2 tea spoon garlic powder
1 tea spoon celery seed
2 table spoon of Italian seasoning
2 table spoon dried parsley
Grind all the above ingredients in a coffee mill and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months in a refrigerator.
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