Nothing beats comfort food like a bowl of home-made chicken stock, sans MSG and preservatives. I do love the convenience of ready-made chicken stock and I use them in my cooking often, but I can taste the difference between home-made chicken stock and store-bought ones with one sip.
So whenever I have time, I will brew my own chicken stock which to me, is the ultimate indulgence. Home-made chicken soup is an instant pick-me-up for those who are always tired or sick/recuperating from sickness. With the home-made chicken stock, I added cooked macaroni, shredded chicken and vegetables for a healthy one-dish meal of chicken macaroni soup. If you have leftover stock, you can refrigerate or freeze them for use in your cooking.
I simmered the soup for 2 hours on the stove top and leave it in the thermal pot for a few more hours (so that it can continue to slow cook on its own, without any electricity or gas), but you can also use a slow-cooker or pressure-cooker to ease the process.
You can purchase whole chicken bones (photo above) from the supermarket or wet market. They are cheap, usually about S$1 or less for a whole chicken bone. If you roast a chicken, freeze the bones for making chicken stock, as roasting adds an additional richness and depth to the chicken stock. When cooking chicken wings, freeze wings tips for making chicken stock.
I simmered the soup for 2 hours on the stove top and leave it in the thermal pot for a few more hours, but you can also use a slow-cooker or pressure-cooker to ease the process.
To keep chicken stock – keep chicken stock in a container in the fridge for about a week. You can also freeze the stock where it keeps for 2 months. Do not refreeze the broth once it has thawed, therefore fit them in volumes which you use for your recipes and soups (such as 600ml container). You will notice that upon chilling, the fats float to the top and harden. This is your best chance to scrap off the fats with a spoon.