For Food Sake
A healing brew
You’ll be eternally grateful for treating yourself to this chicken ramen dish
When we first started working together my dear friend Bailey had this ever-growing list of foods I didn’t eat. Soup was high on the list; the broth akin to cloudy water to me on most occasions.
That is, until I sampled ramen in Tokyo a few years ago, seated in a singular stall inside a basement hole in the wall. I had ordered the dish on a screen, based mainly on pictures. It gave me a most profound understanding of depth of flavour. Wow! I had so many questions. Each spoonful more delicious than the last, a warm golden liquid to change my view of broth forever, and a quest to get to this depth of flavour.
I’ve been making broth for some time now, but Klara, a nutritional therapist based in Namibia, gave me the inside scoop on how to get the depth of flavour. Roast the chicken a bit first. I mean we brown meat for stews, so why wouldn’t we for a broth? Game changer! I was sick when I made this broth last month and, trust me, the adage rings true — this is healing stuff.
This broth soothes, it heals, it ends arguments even, and it brings peace to your heart and home. The past year has come with many meanderings, so treat yourself to the taste of this. You’ll thank yourself.
Ingredients:
- Whole chicken (I use free range)
- 3 garlic cloves — smashed, skin on
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 shallot (even the green ends), roughly chopped
- 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 sticks of celery (and the leaves), roughly chopped
- 1 chilli, cut down the middle
- 1 bay leaf (I use fresh)
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon of fennel seeds
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of ghee
- ¼ teaspoon of turmeric
- ½ teaspoon of coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds
- A small pinch of ground nutmeg
- 10 x black peppercorns
- 2 x tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 3 teaspoons of Himalayan salt (add more when serving)
- ½ teaspoon of white pepper
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 210°C
- Rub 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper
- Place the chicken in the oven and allow the skin to brown properly and crisp up for about 40 minutes; turn it over after about 25 minutes to brown the underside
- When the chicken is near browning time, heat a large stock pot over low-medium heat and add all the spices and bay leaf; warm through for less than a minute
- Add the ghee and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then the onion, shallot, celery, and ginger and allow to cook a little
- Add the carrots and stir through, then add the garlic after about 2 minutes, stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom
- Add the apple cider vinegar and deglaze the pan
- Put the browned chicken to the pot and add about 1.5l of water to cover the chicken and veg; bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat, then allow the broth to cook in a rolling bowl on low heat for at least 4 hours, though I prefer 5 hours.
- You will see this golden broth develop and your kitchen and home will smell wholesome.
When done, ladle into a bowl of your choice, shred some chicken into the bowl, add noodles if you desire — I use the buckwheat variety. Add the carrots, some coriander leaves, a squeeze of lemon and an extra sprinkle of salt and slurp up all the goodness.