Chicken Base Recipe
Chicken flavored soups and sauces can be made by using various ingredients. One ingredient I like to use when making gravy, stock, and soups is a nice thick chicken base.
If you haven’t heard of chicken base yet, then I urge you to read on because this is simply one of the most effective ingredients you can use to bring a rich chicken flavor to your dishes.
Don’t know what is chicken base? No problem! In this article I’ll tell you all about chicken base, chicken stock, and chicken broth as well as the differences between these ingredients. I’ll even share with you a simple way to make your own chicken base at home.
Ingredients
- A whole chicken
- Onions
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Celery
- Bay Leaves
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cheesecloth
Instructions
Create A Stock
First thing you will need to do is create some chicken stock. You can simply do so by boiling a pot of water as you prepare the ingredients I have listed above. As you wait for the water to come to a boil, you should begin chopping up the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery.
Add Chicken, Herbs, Spices, and Vegetables
Once the water has come to a boil, simply put in all of your ingredients including the vegetables, herbs, spices, and the whole chicken.
Reduce The Stock
Continue to simmer all the ingredients until a significant amount of water has been reduced. What you would want is for the whole thing to get reduced until only two thirds of the water remains.Take note that this will take a lot of time (hours). You must stir the ingredients inside your pot as you wait for the stock to reduce to keep them from sticking to the sides of your pot.
Store It In The Fridge
Once your stock has been reduced, it’s now time to store it in the fridge. But before you store your stock, you must chop and debone the chicken so that bits of chicken will be included in your base.Cool your reduced stock in your fridge and take it out once you see the fat separate from the entire mixture.
Turn It Into A Paste
After cooling your reduced stock, all you need to do now is remove the layer of fat on top of the mixture, and press the rest of the mixture through a cheese cloth to create a fine chicken base paste.
Store It
This homemade chicken base can be stored in the fridge for up to three months. Just make sure you put it in a clean and airtight container for added longevity and to seal in all the flavors.
