Pork Bone Broth

While beef bone is the what most people associate with bone broth, it can also be made with lamb, pork, chicken, veal… you name it.  Chinese pork broth a basic condiment for cooking Chinese soup and stew.

 

Ingredients

2 (1 kilogram / 2 pounds) pork leg bones , chopped
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
1 thumb ginger

1 leak or small onion, sliced

2 star aniseed

1 cilantro, diced

3 gloves of garlic

Direction:

Step 1:    Wash pork bones carefully with tap water. Add bones, Shaoxing wine, onion, garlic, star aniseed, and ginger into a large pot (or dutch oven). Add water until the pot is 4/5 full. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir the bones a few times during cooking to keep them from sticking to the bottom. Skim the foam from the surface until the soup turns clear, about 5 minutes.

                    

 

Step 2:    Cover and cook over low heat (medium heat if using an electric stove) for 3.5 to 4 hours. The broth should continue boiling throughout the cooking. You don’t need to add water during the cooking, but remember to check the broth every 20 to 30 minutes. If the water runs too low and no longer covers the bones, add boiling water, 2 cups at a time. Don’t add any water during the final hour of cooking. At the end of cooking, the broth should be reduced to about 1/3 (or less) of the original volume. Transfer the pork stock to a bowl to cool off.

 

Step 3:     Leave the bones in the pot and cook another batch of stock. Add water until the pot is 1/2 full. Bring the water to a boil. Cover and cook for another 2 hours to get more stock. The broth should get quite concentrated again, but won’t be as thick as the first time. You can use this broth to cook soup directly, without adding water. To store, transfer the second batch of broth to a bowl to cool off. Discard ginger and pork bones.

 

You can use the stock to make soup and noodle broth and add it to stews and stir-fry dishes to enhance the flavor. If you use it to cook soup, don’t forget to add water to the stock to adjust it to taste. I used my first batch to cook four meals for two people, using the stock to cook exclusively soup.

Wait until the stock cools off completely. You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

 

If the bones have any meat attached, you can separate the meat from the bones to add to the bone broth soup.  Add diced cilantro, salt and pepper to the stock to make a bowl of simple and tasty soup.