Chinese Chicken Broth Recipe: Ultimate Chicken Soup with Umami Flavor!
Chicken broth is a healthy way to enjoy great flavors and nourish your body. Even though chicken broth sounds simple, it is difficult to get the dish right. If you use ingredients indiscriminately, that will ruin the flavor of the soup. Besides knowing the ingredients, you must learn the steps to make the broth delicious.
Follow my Chinese chicken broth recipe to make a tasty, juicy chicken stew. I will use an assortment of vegetables in this chicken broth, so its nutritional value will go much higher. Let’s get started with the recipe.
Table of Contents
Chinese Chicken Broth Recipe Overview
Broths are often best when slow-cooked. I will cook this broth for a long time to get all the flavors from the chicken and vegetables. Here is the recipe overview.
| Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Hard | ||
| Total Time: 2 hours | |||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories |
| 4 persons | 25 minutes | 1 hour 35 minutes | 259 kcal |
Ingredients Needed for Chinese Chicken Broth Recipe
Picking the right ingredients greatly impacts the flavor of this soup. Here is my guide to choosing the ingredients.
- Chicken: 1 large chicken of about 2 lbs. You should use an old hen for this soup, especially the hens that have laid eggs several times. Don’t use rooster for the soup unless you want the meat to be bland.
- Ginger: 50g of ginger, thinly sliced
- Green Onion: ½ cup of green onion, finely chopped
- Rice Wine: 2-3 tbsp. Don’t use cooking wine as it will change the color of the soup and remove the umami flavor.
- Carrot: One large carrot, cut into small cubes
- Sweet Corn: 2 corn cobs
- Dried Lotus Seeds: 30g
- Wolfberry: 10g
- Dried Lily: 20g
- Cooking Oil: 2 tbsp
- Salt: 2 tsp
You need to remember the principle of ‘three things to put in and three things to leave out’ while making this chicken soup. I will talk more about it while cooking.
Chinese Chicken Broth Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
Going forward, I will explain what I am doing in each step and why I am doing that. Let’s learn.
Step 1: Cut the Chicken into Large Pieces
You should remove the unnecessary parts of the chicken first, such as the toenails, butt, neck skin, etc. Remove the internal organs from the cavity. Then, cut the chicken into large pieces.
You might see whole chicken broth in restaurants, but cutting them makes cooking the chicken easier. But, don’t cut the pieces too small. Otherwise, the meat will become dry.
Step 2: Blanch the Chicken and Clean It
Wildlife hens usually don’t require blanching. But as captive or frozen chickens have a fishy smell, you need to blanch the chicken. Put water in a large pot and submerge the chicken pieces. Then, put some green onions and sliced ginger into the pot.
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Let the water boil over medium heat. Remember, the three things rule I talked about earlier? Here is the first rule. You can’t add cooking wine to the chicken broth. Although it eliminates the fishy smell, it will darken the color of the soup. So, you can add some rice wine while blanching the chicken. Otherwise, don’t use anything.
Once the water is boiling, remove the foam using a colander. Cook the chicken for three more minutes and then take the pieces out. Put the chicken pieces into warm water. If you put them in cold water, the drastic temperature change will cause a sharp contraction in the chicken.
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As a result, the meat will dehydrate and become hard. After cleaning the chicken pieces thoroughly, pat them dry with kitchen towels.
Step 3: Prepare the Vegetables
Before you start frying the chicken, I want to talk about the second thing you can’t put in chicken soup. This thing is star anise. Other strong spices that you shouldn’t use in this recipe are cinnamon and cloves. So, what should you use?
You can use seasonal fruits, vegetables, and fungi. I am using carrots and sweet corn today. These vegetables go extremely well with chicken soup. You can also use chestnuts, yam, longan, coconut, cordyceps flower, shiitake mushroom, etc. Dried fruits and nuts are also suitable for this recipe.
Dice the carrots so that they aren’t too small or large. Then, cut the corn cobs into small pieces.
Step 4: Fry the Chicken Pieces
Heat some oil in a pan. Then, add the chopped scallions and sliced ginger. Stir fry them until you get the fragrance. After about two minutes, add the chicken pieces to the pan and stir-fry them over medium heat.
The chicken pieces may release some water. Fry them until the pieces are slightly browned. The evaporation process will remove the fishy smell of the chicken.
Step 5: Add Hot Water
The third thing you can’t use in chicken soup is cold water. Adding cold water will cause the chicken to contract and the meat will become tougher. Also, the umami flavor won’t be released. So, use boiling water.
Using mineral water is fine but you can also use boiling tap water. Pour the water once. If you add water halfway through, the soup will become tasteless. Now, cook the broth over high heat for five minutes with the lid open. Then, close the lid and cook for ten minutes.
Step 6: Add Lotus Seeds, Lilies and Corn
As lotus seeds or corn require more cooking time, I will add them earlier. Once the soup becomes whitish, add the lotus seeds, dried lilies, and corn pieces.
Step 7: Simmer in a Casserole
Use a thick casserole so that the soup can heat up evenly. It will also prevent the ingredients from sticking to the bottom. Once the soup boils, close the lid and simmer on medium heat for an hour. It might take up to two hours for older hens.
Step 8: Add the Carrots and the Herbs
After putting the diced carrot, simmer the broth for 20 more minutes. Add the wolfberry just before turning the heat off as it will be cooked quickly. Put enough salt to season the soup.
Then, turn the heat off and let everything simmer with the residual heat in the casserole. Finally, serve the healthy and delicious chicken soup.
Nutrition Facts of Chinese Chicken Broth Recipe
As I have used a little oil and almost no processed sauces, this soup is very nourishing. Here is a sneak peek at its nutritional value.
- Total Carbohydrates: 53g
- Protein: 10g
- Total Fat: 1.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0.7g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 1g
- Total Sugar: 2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 869mg
- Calcium: 19mg
- Iron: 1.1mg
- Vitamin C: 2.4mg
Chinese Chicken Broth Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- You should remove the unnecessary parts of the chicken first, such as the toenails, butt, neck skin, etc. Remove the internal organs from the cavity. Then, cut the chicken into large pieces.
- You might see whole chicken broth in restaurants, but cutting them makes cooking the chicken easier. But, don’t cut the pieces too small. Otherwise, the meat will become dry.
- Wildlife hens usually don’t require blanching. But as captive or frozen chickens have a fishy smell, you need to blanch the chicken. Put water in a large pot and submerge the chicken pieces. Then, put some green onions and sliced ginger into the pot.
- Let the water boil over medium heat. Remember, the three things rule I talked about earlier? Here is the first rule. You can’t add cooking wine to the chicken broth. Although it eliminates the fishy smell, it will darken the color of the soup. So, you can add some rice wine while blanching the chicken. Otherwise, don’t use anything.
- Once the water is boiling, remove the foam using a colander. Cook the chicken for three more minutes and then take the pieces out. Put the chicken pieces into warm water. If you put them in cold water, the drastic temperature change will cause a sharp contraction in the chicken.
- As a result, the meat will dehydrate and become hard. After cleaning the chicken pieces thoroughly, pat them dry with kitchen towels.
- Before you start frying the chicken, I want to talk about the second thing you can’t put in chicken soup. This thing is star anise. Other strong spices that you shouldn’t use in this recipe are cinnamon and cloves. So, what should you use?
- You can use seasonal fruits, vegetables, and fungi. I am using carrots and sweet corn today. These vegetables go extremely well with chicken soup. You can also use chestnuts, yam, longan, coconut, cordyceps flower, shiitake mushroom, etc. Dried fruits and nuts are also suitable for this recipe.
- Dice the carrots so that they aren’t too small or large. Then, cut the corn cobs into small pieces.
- Heat some oil in a pan. Then, add the chopped scallions and sliced ginger. Stir fry them until you get the fragrance. After about two minutes, add the chicken pieces to the pan and stir-fry them over medium heat.
- The chicken pieces may release some water. Fry them until the pieces are slightly browned. The evaporation process will remove the fishy smell of the chicken.
- The third thing you can’t use in chicken soup is cold water. Adding cold water will cause the chicken to contract and the meat will become tougher. Also, the umami flavor won’t be released. So, use boiling water.
- Using mineral water is fine but you can also use boiling tap water. Pour the water once. If you add water halfway through, the soup will become tasteless. Now, cook the broth over high heat for five minutes with the lid open. Then, close the lid and cook for ten minutes.
- As lotus seeds or corn require more cooking time, I will add them earlier. Once the soup becomes whitish, add the lotus seeds, dried lilies, and corn pieces.
- Use a thick casserole so that the soup can heat up evenly. It will also prevent the ingredients from sticking to the bottom. Once the soup boils, close the lid and simmer on medium heat for an hour. It might take up to two hours for older hens.
- After putting the diced carrot, simmer the broth for 20 more minutes. Add the wolfberry just before turning the heat off as it will be cooked quickly. Put enough salt to season the soup.
- Then, turn the heat off and let everything simmer with the residual heat in the casserole. Finally, serve the healthy and delicious chicken soup.
FAQs
You should take a look at the answers to some commonly asked questions. Here you go.
How long should Chinese chicken broth simmer to extract maximum flavor from the ingredients?
It depends on how old the hen is. If you are using a hen that is less than six months old, you can simmer the broth for about one hour. But it will take about two hours if the hen is older.
Can leftover chicken bones or carcasses be used to make Chinese chicken broth?
Chinese chicken broth is known for its fresh taste. If you use leftover bones or carcasses to make this recipe, the broth won’t taste fresh. But you can use the bones or carcasses removed from fresh chickens.
Can Chinese chicken broth be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator or freezer for later use?
Yes. As the chicken broth takes a lot of time to make, you can make it in advance and store it in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days. You can also store chicken broth in the freezer for about three months.
What other ingredients can I use for the Chinese chicken broth recipe?
You can use dried fruits, nuts, or beans, such as red dates, walnuts, red beans, kidney beans, etc. Chinese herbal medicines with a light color, such as wolfberry, ginseng, etc., are also common.
Conclusion
Whether it is cold outside or you are feeling under the weather, a bowl of hot and umami soup can ease your body and mind. This chicken soup is one of the most nourishing soups in the Chinese cuisine. I highly recommend you try this Chinese chicken broth recipe at home and enjoy the delicious soup.
Everyone in your family, from kids to elderly, will love this amazing chicken soup. And this will be imprinted on their memories as one of the finest soups they have ever enjoyed.
