The process is pretty tedious to me, as usually one have to smash up one whole kampung (free-range) chicken with a pestle, bones and all. Then these are placed on top of an over-turned porcelain bowl inside a double-boiler. Put on the lid and double-boil the smashed chicken for 3 hours. The essence of the chicken will drip under the bowl. Remove the chicken and the bowl gently and drink up the essence.
Note: When you first open the double-boiler lid, you won't see much liquid inside as shown on the left pic. Don't fret, the essense hid underneath the bowl!
Well, that was the usual way of making chicken essence but this method produces a fair bit of oil. What my mom did was to use lean breast meat from 3 (yes THREE!!! That's a freaking whole lot of chickens that we have been eating every other day!) kampung chickens instead. For a bit of variation, a few slices of dong guai (angelica) can be added underneath the bowl.
My colleague had taught me some years back to make this Chicken Essence. He also told me to reserve the cooked chicken and use it the next day to boil soup. We tried that and the soup turned out tasting sweet as he had mentioned.
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wow. i never knew it was so straightforward, making chicken essence. it's definitely one of my fave tastes so i'm going to try this.
ReplyDeletei guess the tedious bit really is with the part where it requires smashing up with the pestle.
thanks for the tip!
wallau.. hardcore, chicken-core soup! teehee... v v potent.. i am sure anyone who drinks that would be running round like a "headless chicken" in no time.. forgive d pun:P
ReplyDeletemy mum used to make chicken essence soup for me near exam time ages ago! i was too lazy to hunt for bowls of the right size to fit in my crockpot...but quite some time ago, stumbled across this slow cooker/herbal boiler (http://www.hiwell.com.my/herbalboiler.html). same concept as how you cook yours, but a whole kampung chicken can fit into the boiler.i usually de-skin and cut away all the fat first before throwing it in...=)
ReplyDeletewhat if we remove the skin first ? wouldnt that made it less oily ?
ReplyDeletewhat is the mud-looking like stuff on top of the bowl?
ReplyDeletehope you will benefit from the soup adrian
ReplyDeletelol oh yeah cumi&ciki
thanks sooyin. i do hv one of those pot but its the earlier generation without so many accessories. maybe i might check this out.
mike, we tried but still oilier than plain breast meat. there are lots of oil underneath those meat esp thighs
sloppy, if you have read my writings, those were the chicken meat placed on top of the bowl
ooh...sorry i misread it. i thought keep the chicken, bones and pestle inside the bowl O_o
ReplyDeleteno problem jelly :D
ReplyDeletei tell you, wifey must be lucky to get this confinement lady...she does this as well...everynight!
ReplyDeletegosh.. what a wonderful delicious and safe way to make essence of chicken without preservatives! I have to make this soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe!
pixen