Chicken Bone Broth (bone "healing" - Part 1)

I could not help but fall to the popular Chinese saying "以形补形" (Yi Xing Bu Xing) when I recently injured my elbow and suffered a fracture. Since the saying possibly means: to consume certain food that resembles certain body part/organ to "nourish" that specific part/organ of our own body - I wish I could gnaw at some bones so that I get my bones back...in shape! Now!

Bones, cartilage, collagen, ligaments, tendons - these are everything that is good for me right now; and with only one hand, the easiest dish I could cook and consume regularly is...

SOUP (the "put-everything-in-a-pot-and-let-magic-happens" all-in-one kind of meal)!

Or technically...BONE BROTH! Think chicken, pork, beef....

Let's start with chicken for today.

Luckily, chicken carcass (or backs) is already a regular ingredient I use in my daily cooking with dishes such as chicken porridge and chicken soup. That will be my easiest bet for bone broth as (1) it will have a high concentration of red marrow, not forgetting (2) all the minerals e.g. calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, collagen - easily absorbed nutrients that is good for bone healing/health including repair and strengthening of cartilage, tendons and connective tissue in the body.

Here are a few tips on Chicken Bone Broths:

Tip #1: Buy organic chicken carcass/backs that is free of antibiotics and hormones

Organic chicken backs are sometimes available in Whole Foods Market, Stevens Creek store. They are not expensive at $1.69/lb. Seriously, ever since my injury, I have been cooking (eating/drinking) chicken porridge and soup for at least once a week. How I wish Whole Foods Market save the organic chicken backs for me! Truth is, in the last two trips there, they ran out of organic chicken backs! There goes my easy route for bone broth!

Tip #2: Your butcher is your friend
Request the butcher to chop (and break up) the chicken backs into small pieces - the smaller the better so that the marrow and minerals essentially "leech" out faster into the broth. The kind folks (except for one who was not that helpful) at Whole Foods Market, Stevens Creek Store were always willing to do the work for me. Thank you!

Tip #3: Cook the broth/soup


Adding other ingredients such as ginger, onions, carrots, celery to flavor up the broth. Sometimes a pinch of turmeric (it's anti-inflammatory) will work too. Make sure the chicken broth is cooked till the flesh on the chicken bones/backs are fork-tender; and the bones are fork-breakable (that will be approximately 20 minutes on high heat to boil and once simmering, turn down the heat to low-medium and allow the broth to simmer for about two hours). Note: when the fork can break the bones, the bones can be practically chewed upon and swallowed.




Other recipes you can try include:
Silkie (Black) Chicken Soup 乌鸡汤
Gojiberry Chicken Soup 枸杞子鸡汤
Daikon Chicken Soup 白萝卜鸡汤
Nagaimo-Mountain Yam Chicken Soup 山药鸡汤


Tip # 4: Chicken feet can rule!
Instead of chicken carcass/backs, chicken feet can be the better alternative to a "gelatinous" bone broth/soup as gelatinous means collagen and cartilage

Coming up....pork broth, beef broth...? But pork and beef is not my regular diet????


Tag: bone broth, bones

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