Now’s the ideal season for enjoying soups and slow-cooked meals that rely on chicken stock. If you’re already skilled in making stock with a stewing hen, it’s time to level up by using a whole rooster. For those accustomed to store-bought stock in cartons or cans, you’re in for a surprise!
The best rooster for this purpose is one that’s mature but not too old, cleaned with the head intact and feet scalded and peeled for hygiene. Remember to keep the valuable parts! If you’re not processing the bird yourself, ask your butcher to include the head and legs.
Since the rooster will be tough, letting it rest in the refrigerator for two days will help. It used to be expected for butcher shops to display chickens with their heads and legs, which helped the meat become tender over time. It’s a mystery why this practice has fallen out of favor.
Ingredients:
- One preferably 1 to 2-year-old rooster, complete with head and feet.
- One big yellow onion, keep the outer skin if it’s clean, cut into four pieces.
- Chop two stalks of celery and a bunch of celery leaves.
- Roughly cut 2 to 4 carrots.
- Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
- Include one inch of fresh ginger and three garlic cloves.
- Vegetables.
Preparing the meal
Put the rooster into a stock pot that can hold 2 gallons, including the vegetables and vinegar, and then fill it with 4 quarts of cold water until everything is submerged.
Heat until it starts to bubble, and get ready to remove impurities frequently. A delicate skimming spoon, like the ones available in Chinatown, is helpful for this. Let it cook gently without boiling, with the lid on, for roughly two hours.
Remove the rooster from the pot. Let it cool down until you can touch it comfortably. Then, start separating the bones and legs and placing them back into the simmering pot on heat. The skin, cartilage, and any unwanted bits that may have accidentally been left in there can be given to the dog, cat, or pig.
The meat ought to easily come away from the bones. Reserve a small portion of the meat to add back into the soup if you’re planning to prepare it, and place the remaining meat into a plastic bag to be used for sandwiches and other dishes with cooked chicken.
Season the gently boiling broth with salt to your liking, then let it continue to cook for an additional 90 minutes. After that, mix in the ginger and garlic and let it cook for another 30 minutes. (Although the picture shows ginger added in the beginning, I’ve found that adding ginger and garlic towards the end is better as it prevents overcooking.) Once done, filter the broth. You can use it immediately for soups or let it cool to store in the refrigerator or freezer.
My go-to easy soup using this broth involves just tossing in a bit more salt, a dash of pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Then, I gently cook an egg in the soup for each bowl. Paired with a piece of bread, it’s divine!
Nutrition Information: Broth Stock (1 serving)
- Calories: 86 kcal
- Total Fat: 2.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 4 mg
- Sodium: 860 mg
- Total Carbohydrates: 8.5 g
- Dietary Fiber: 0 g
- Sugars: 4.5 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Vitamin D: 0 mcg
- Calcium: 20 mg
- Iron: 0.8 mg
- Potassium: 200 mg
Please note that the values can vary based on the brand and the recipe used to prepare the chicken stock. Always check the packaging for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
I spent a good bit of my 20’s touring the country playing music. As a teenager, and throughout my 20’s, in between music, I always worked in restaurants, in various capacities. Somewhere in my late 20’s I realized that I was not on the cover of Rolling Stone, as planned, and so, I started thinking about my future and trying to figure out other ways to have an impact, be creative and still live a bit of that rock ‘n roll lifestyle. The restaurant industry provided me with a good bit of those things. And so, I started honing my chops in the kitchen, putting my nose in food lover’s companion, and really started to go somewhere with it.