Quick & Cheap Pork and Chicken Broth

[Shel_B]

One project for this weekend is to make a pork and chicken broth to be used for some Asian-style soups. I have some chicken drumsticks defrosting and was thinking of hitting a market and getting some pork chops or ground pork and using them to add the "porkiness" to the broth, which I plan to make in the Instant Pot.

 

Any thoughts on this idea? Any better ideas? Remember, I'm looking for quick, cheap, and easy here.

[Tropicalsenior]

You might try some pigs knuckles or pigs feet. Do you have an Asian market near you? They might have something in the cheap pork section.

[Shel_B]

4 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You might try some pigs knuckles or pigs feet. Do you have an Asian market near you? They might have something in the cheap pork section.

There's a large and well-stocked Asian market near me, but for some reason, I forgot about it. Yes, I'll check it out and see what they have. Thanks.

[KennethT]

Yes, pigs feet but also unsmoked hocks work well too. For my pork stock, primarily used for bak kut teh and for a Nyonya dish, I use a 16 quart pressure cooker filled with a rack of pork ribs (Wild Fork Foods gas them for $2-3 per pound) plus a couple of feet. Pork jello.

[Shel_B]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Yes, pigs feet but also unsmoked hocks work well too. For my pork stock, primarily used for bak kut teh and for a Nyonya dish, I use a 16 quart pressure cooker filled with a rack of pork ribs (Wild Fork Foods gas them for $2-3 per pound) plus a couple of feet. Pork jello.

 

I thought about the hocks/shanks, and unsmoked ones seem hard to find, but they may be available in the Asian market. I hadn't thought about ribs, which might be workable. Thanks.

[Tropicalsenior]

If you could score a pig's head that would be ideal but you would have to have them cut it up for you. It wouldn't quite fit in the instant pot.

[liuzhou]

Most chicken stocks here include an element of mildly cured ham. I don't know what's available to you in Asian markets but Jinhua ham is considered the most luxurious.

 

 

 

[Shel_B]

28 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

If you could score a pig's head that would be ideal but you would have to have them cut it up for you. It wouldn't quite fit in the instant pot.

 

That's an interesting idea, but unworkable for what I want to do this weekend.

 

Reminds me of a story about the Judy Rodgers pig head incident at the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.  She had a pig's head sitting in the back of the restaurant waiting to be prepared, and when she returned to start work on it, it was gone. Seems that someone slipped into the back door and stole it.  

[Shel_B]

40 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Most chicken stocks here include an element of mildly cured ham. I don't know what's available to you in Asian markets but Jinhua ham is considered the most luxurious.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll keep it in mind for future stocks.

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

If you could score a pig's head that would be ideal but you would have to have them cut it up for you. It wouldn't quite fit in the instant pot.

It strikes me that making a quick and cheap stock does not involve a pig's head. At least not here in the Bay Area.

[Tropicalsenior]

Sorry, I was probably thinking more in the line of Costa Rican prices. They still are cheap down here. That is, if you can find one.

[Shel_B]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

It strikes me that making a quick and cheap stock does not involve a pig's head. At least not here in the Bay Area.

 

You're correct, of course, but it is an interesting idea.  Maybe something to experiment with. Judy made pork stock with a pig's head, and there are some pressure-cooked pig's head recipes around, and ... well, you get the picture.

[Katie Meadow]

10 hours ago, Shel_B said:

 

It's pretty easy to make a chicken-pork stock with chicken backs, feet, other bony parts plus unsmoked or smoked pork hocks, shanks or pork necks. If I am planning to make a Chinese soup I don't use a lot of pork.  Berkeley Bowl has a good selection of chicken parts and some pork parts.  

 

I've also discovered a great product that I get at Waylan's meat market on Fruitvale, in Oakland: smoked pork necks. They are great for putting in a stove top pot of beans if you want a distinctly smoky flavor. I usually drop in two necks for a pound of RG beans and they are done when the beans are done. The meat you can pull of them after cooking is delicious, but is less than you would get from a shank. I just pull of the meat and throw it into the pot when it's all done. I think you would only need one along with several lbs. of chicken parts to make an impact if you wanted a bit of smoky taste to your stock.

 

To add for clarity and direction, Waylon's is across the street from Farmer Joe's and next door to a Peets and La Farine Bakery, so not exactly in a food desert in case you have other items on your list.

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:40 AM by Katie Meadow (log)

[Shel_B]

@Katie Meadow  Thanks for jumping in. I've not been to Waylons ... another market to check out. Thanks. I may try your tip the next time I make a batch of beans.  FWIW, I like smoke and heat in many dishes.

 

The broth I'll be making this weekend won't be smokey, but I do make smokey broths and stocks several times a year. The Bowl is, of course, one of my sources for a variety of items, and I certainly use their meat counter.

[Shel_B]

17 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

To add for clarity and direction, Waylon's is across the street from Farmer Joe's and next door to a Peets and La Farine Bakery, so not exactly in a food desert in case you have other items on your list.

 

It's been ages since I've visited Farmer Joe's, and La Farine is one of my favorite bakeries. My motivation to visit Waylon's has just increased. Time to revisit the area.

[SLB]

9 hours ago, Shel_B said:

some pork chops or ground pork

Soimething about using chops or muscle good enough to be ground makes me. . . anxious.  In fairness, it's probably an anxiety arising from my wallet; it's never occurred to me to boil a chop.  But still, anxious.

 

I make unsmoked pork broth from bones or unsmoked hocks.  My stock needs are not sophisticated, and I think it's marvelous and use it interchangeably with chicken stock applications.  [FWIW -- I also make smoked hock stock and smoked neckbone stock, which I definitely do not use interchangeably with chicken stock].

Edited Saturday at 11:18 PM by SLB (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

5 hours ago, Shel_B said:

The broth I'll be making this weekend won't be smokey, but I do make smokey broths and stocks several times a year.

One thing that is as scarce as hens teeth down here is good him and you almost never see a whole ham. Today at the grocery store I found some spiral cut Smithfield ham. I'm looking forward to the ham but more anxious to get that ham bone to make stock for a good pot of beans.

[Shel_B]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

One thing that is as scarce as hens teeth down here is good him and you almost never see a whole ham. Today at the grocery store I found some spiral cut Smithfield ham. I'm looking forward to the ham but more anxious to get that ham bone to make stock for a good pot of beans.

 

I'm happy for you that you found an acceptable ham. I'm not much of a ham fan, but do like smoked pork and ham for cooking.  Well, I should amend that ... a few slices of good 

jamón ibérico, jamón serrano, Tyrolean speck,  prosciutto di Parma or San Daniel will do it for me.  But the American hams are, for the most part, a turn-off for me.

 

Now that I'm starting to explore making beans, the idea of a smokey ham bone sounds very appealing. It sounds like you make a stock and then cook the beans in it.  Is that correct?  How about adding the bone and aromatics to the water and cooking everything together? Would that work?

 

I think I'll poke around the site and see what other ideas I can find. It seems like we're heading into thread drift and I'd rather not go much further with that.

[rotuts]

This thread reminds me of a ' medium ' onion for some reason.

 

its right there in front of you , in the onion bin .

 

Done.

[weinoo]

I might've actually read this thread about pork stock to see what people do for that, and then combine it with the deep knowledge of chicken stock that the op must have.

 

My guess is that there is also a lot of info contained in various Instant Pot topics.

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I might've actually read this thread

Thank you. That is a very informative thread. I really learned a lot from @Dave the Cook's post about beef broth. The fact that he doesn't use any vegetables intrigues me. There are a lot of ideas in the instant pot thread but it would take forever to wade through and find them. I like the instant pot for making chicken broth but to make a beef broth I still like to put a big pot on the stove and use the slow simmer method. I imagine that the pork broth would also be better this way. However, @Shel_B is talking about a combination broth with the chicken and pork. So the instant pot is still the way that I would choose for that. Myself, I would use wings and legs or a chicken carcass and probably pigs feet or hocks. I would also leave out any aromatics because those can be added in the final dish.

[Katie Meadow]

@Shel_B When I was able to get smoked ham shanks I used to routinely make ham broth to freeze in quarts. I would use that broth to cook my beans in. The shanks were not very fatty and they had a lot of meat on them. Then Berkeley Bowl stopped carrying the shanks. After I discovered smoked pork necks at Waylon's I simplified my life. After boiling the beans for the requisite ten minutes (as per RG) I drop in a couple of the necks, whatever spices and herbs I chose and then simmer the pot until the beans are done. My bean of choice so far has been Domingo Rojo for a southern red beans and rice meal, and also when I make a New Mexico style pot of beans. 

[Shel_B]

@Katie Meadow  Thanks for the information on how you cook beans.  You've been very helpful.

[Shel_B]

2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

@Shel_B is talking about a combination broth with the chicken and pork. So the instant pot is still the way that I would choose for that. Myself, I would use wings and legs or a chicken carcass and probably pigs feet or hocks. I would also leave out any aromatics because those can be added in the final dish.

I have legs ready to go. Costco had them for a great price a while back. I'm about to see what's available for the pork.

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

I have legs ready to go. Costco had them for a great price a while back. I'm about to see what's available for the pork.

When I cook chicken in the instant pot for broth. I cook it first for 18 minutes. (My instant pot is a knockoff so your timing may be a little more or a little less.) I then let them cool a bit and take off the meat while it is still viable. It's great in chicken salad or chicken and dumplings. Then I return all of bones to the pot and cook them for a longer time to enhance the broth.

That way I wind up with flavorful broth and still have the meat.