Chicken broth is one of the simplest dietary dishes that exist in modern cuisine. Nevertheless, in order to make it really tasty, you need to know a few secrets.
To cook delicious chicken broth and soups based on it, you need chicken meat on the bone. Professional chefs prefer to cook from a whole chicken, divided into parts at a ratio of 1 kg of chicken to 5 liters of water. A light dietary broth for feeding small children or those recovering from an illness is obtained from breast or chicken fillet. For a strong, rich broth, you need parts such as chicken legs, wings and legs.
In order for the broth to turn out transparent, it is necessary to remove fat from the chicken, which will make the broth cloudy during the cooking process. Professionals also advise to cook the soup after boiling over the lowest heat: this is what will keep the broth clear and light. Covering the broth with a lid is undesirable, as this increases the boil.
The dark foam that appears during the boil does not at all impair the taste of the broth. If you plan to filter the broth, then you can not remove it at all, if not, you can either remove it or reduce the heat and wait until it settles to the bottom of the pan.
To obtain a tasty broth, salt should be added at the beginning of the boil, immediately after the dark foam has been removed. If you salt at the end of cooking, the broth will turn out to be tasteless and salty, and at the beginning - the chicken will take the excess salt for itself. Spices in chicken broth are optional, but to enhance the taste, you can throw 2-3 peas of black (in no case allspice!) Pepper, a couple of bay leaves and a couple of sticks of dried dill.
To preserve the transparency of the broth, it is best to place the spices in a special cook's bag or in a bag of gauze, put in the broth at the beginning of the boil together with salt and remove from there after 10-15 minutes. And for Asian (Thai and Chinese) cuisine, they also put 4-5 small pieces of fresh ginger in a classic chicken broth for 5-10 minutes. Ginger adds strength and flavor to the broth and gives the chicken a light, distinctive flavor.
Vegetables, which, in the Russian tradition, are usually boiled in broth and eaten immediately, to create a truly tasty broth, it is better to lightly bake them in a dry hot frying pan (without oil) and put them in the boiling broth for 10-15 minutes. Then they should be pulled out. The best taste of chicken broth is given by carrots, onions, mushrooms (champignons).
Chicken should not be cooked for a long time. Fillet is usually ready in 15-20 minutes after boiling, meat on the bone - in 30-40 minutes maximum. If you cook it longer, then both the broth and the chicken risk losing their flavor. If you plan on making a soup from broth, it is best to add pasta (homemade noodles, soba, rice noodles) that do not change the flavor of the broth, unlike other soup additives.
After the broth is cooked, it should be served in deep bowls, sprinkled with herbs. Dill and green onions are ideal for chicken broth. Cilantro or parsley can be added, but these are considered "stronger" in taste. From spices with such broth, black ground pepper goes well.
