MEG’S – ‘Mother of Master Stocks’

  

This is a wonderful recipe that I have been sharing for over 20 years with family and friends.  It’s the ‘mother of stocks’ and in Chinese culture has been known to be passed from generation to generation.  I gift it to friends and family so they can use it as the base for their own Master Stock.  With each cook it grows in complexity and depth.

NOGO’s Zingy Ginger Sauce is best friends with this stock, it’s why I originally created my Zingy Ginger Finishing Sauce, to go with my favourite winter warmer, Soy Chicken!

In Northern China, this dish would generally be eaten with either wheat noodles (or a GF variety) or steamed bun, but it is also delicious with steamed rice, silky rice noodles or even fresh egg noodles. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 litres water
  • 1 cup light soy sauce (GF)
  • 1 cup dark soy sauce (if you can get GF)
  • 1 cup shao-xing wine
  • 150g yellow rock sugar, crushed (or brown sugar)
  • 1/3 cup ginger, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed (or FODMAP friendly garlic oil)
  • 6 green part of the spring onion, washed and trimmed
  • ½ tsp sesame oil
  • 6 black cardamom pods, crushed
  • 4 whole cloves
  • ½ tsp. ground cumin
  • ½ tsp. whole fennel seeds
  • 2 Dried Chinese chilli or Sichuan peppercorn
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 star-anise
  • 2 cassia bark pieces (or 1 cinnamon stick)
  • 3 pieces dried mandarin peel or orange peel* 
    • It’s easy to make your own dried peel.  Use the peel of 1 mandarin, it should be without any bitter pith and dried in a fan forced over for 2 hours @ 100 degrees. 
Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse (put a lid on the pot to stop evaporation)

 

Tip: This amazing stock can be used in a variety of ways.  My favourite is using it for cooking a whole chicken but a variety of meats can also be braised (beef brisket, duck, oxtail, pork shoulder or a whole fish).  It’s also great for an easy breakfast of soy eggs with greens or used in recipes such as soy braised shitake mushrooms with silken tofu.    

Freeze: After every use, strain and set the stock aside to cool, then chill overnight in the fridge. When the fat rises to the top and form a layer of gel, skim it off, then freeze the stock for next use. 

Storage: You can store the stock in the fridge for 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. 

Reuse: when you take the stock out of the freezer, make sure to bring it to a full boil before high for at least 10 minutes before use.

Keeping the flavour:  Add more water, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and other spices to keep it from evaporating.

Hope you enjoy this amazing recipe!

Cheers,

Meg – NOGO Sauces