A Chinese chicken stock recipe that creates an aromatic broth that is golden in color with a buttery texture. Make this stock to enhance your wonton soup, noodle bowls and stir fries.
Chicken stock is one of the essential ingredients in Chinese cooking. It uses a minimal amount of fresh herbs, such as ginger and scallion, to bring out the flavor of the chicken without adding too much character to the stock. The finished chicken stock is full of gelatin and has a soothing aroma and a buttery texture.
What is Chinese chicken stock
Cooking chicken stock is a very common practice in Chinese cuisine and one of the most important ingredients for Chinese restaurants. No matter whether it’s used for chicken noodle soup, wonton soup, wonton noodle soupor to be added into stir fry sauces, homemade chicken stock adds a flavor far superior to that of canned stock and is free of additives.
Moreover, homemade chicken stock is slowly simmered until the soft connective tissue from the chicken bones melts, creating a velvety soup texture that is full of gelatin. Unlike the store-bought stock that is quite thin, homemade chicken stock has a rich texture that lingers on your tongue. You can even simply enjoy it by itself with a pinch of salt.
Different from a Western-style chicken stock, homemade Chinese chicken stock uses minimal aromatics without any vegetables. The ginger and scallion help eliminate any unpleasant scent of the meat and bring out its flavor without adding too much sweetness to the stock.
Chinese chicken stock ingredients
Which part of the chicken to use
There are many ways to make Chinese chicken stock, depending on your goal and the availability of ingredients.
Whole chicken – It’s a very common way that home chefs in China use. The chicken is kept whole if it’s a small bird. And it’s taken apart into bone-in pieces for larger birds. For larger birds, lots of home cooks like to remove and reserve the breast meat for making chicken stir friessince it doesn’t add too much to the broth.
Chicken bones – It’s a very economical way to make chicken broth. The only issue is, it takes a long time to make a small amount of chicken stock. Check out my recipe on chicken stock made with leftover chicken bones.
Assorted bone-in pieces – It is the approach commonly used in Chinese restaurants and in this recipe, because it costs less than using a whole chicken and creates a very good result. I used 1 part chicken feet for the gelatin and 3 parts chicken bone-in thigh for the flavor. After three hours of simmering, it results in the most buttery chicken broth that is a joy to sip by itself.
Why cured ham in chicken stock?
Most Chinese restaurants use a master stock (高汤, Gao Tang) for the base of their soup, stew and noodle broth. The master stock can be a pork or chicken stock, or even sometimes a combination of both. Every restaurant has their own practice, but this method was shared by one of my team members who previously worked in Hong Kong restaurants. This is a restaurant secret to creating an extra rich chicken stock for their wonton soup.
Originally, the recipe called for a small piece of Jin Hua Ham (金华火腿), which is a type of Chinese cured ham that is similar to Iberian hams (Jamón ibérico or serrano). But since it’s quite difficult to source it in the US, I called for prosciutto as a substitute. Prosciutto has a different taste, but it won’t make a huge difference in this recipe.
Since prosciutto is quite pricey, look for prosciutto ends or scraps at your local market. They’re much cheaper and will be your best bet.
That being said, it’s totally OK to skip this ingredient and still make a great chicken stock.
How to make Chinese chicken stock
First, blanch the chicken feet to get rid of any gamey taste. Thoroughly wash the chicken feet with running tap water after the blanching and clean them thoroughly.
Then combine all of your ingredients in a large heavy pot, ideally a dutch oven. It creates a better tasting broth if you use a heavy pot with a lid that seals well.
After bringing the water to a boil, make sure to skim off any foam floating on the top so you will end up with a clear chicken broth.
Lastly, all you need to do is simmer the broth with the cover on for 2.5 to 3 hours, until you get a delicious pot of chicken stock that smells heavenly.
You can skim off the oil from the top, or refrigerate the stock and remove the coagulated fat once the stock is chilled.
How to serve and use chicken stock
You can use the stock in noodles, soups, stews or stir-fried dishes.
- Wonton soup – The best way to enjoy chicken stock is to use it in wonton soup or wonton noodle soup. I promise you that if you follow my recipe, you will get a great wonton noodle soup that tastes better than some restaurant versions.
- Chicken soup – You can simply add a pinch of salt and sliced green onion to enjoy the chicken stock by itself.
- Noodle soup – Another very simple way to enjoy the stock is to use it to make a simple noodle soup such as soy sauce noodles.
- As a part of the stir fry sauce – You can also use this stock in any of my stir fry recipes that call for chicken stock or broth.
You’d be surprised how much your dishes are enhanced by simply using homemade chicken stock.
What to do with the leftover chicken meat
Once the chicken stock is made, the bone-in chicken thighs will be super tender but unfortunately will not have much taste left in them. I still save them because it’s quite easy to use the leftover chicken meat to put together a quick meal.
I usually remove and discard the chicken skin and bones, save the meat in small portions in ziplock bags, and freeze them. You can use the chicken in a sandwich, salad, soup, or throw it into fried noodles.
My favorite way to use the leftover chicken is – dust the chicken with a very thin layer of cornstarch and add salt and pepper. Pan fry the pieces until golden crispy. You can serve them with any kind of sauce you prefer. This is one of my favorite snacks that I can enjoy with rice or noodles.
Chinese Chicken Stock
A Chinese chicken stock recipe that creates an aromatic broth that is golden in color with a buttery texture. Make this stock to enhance your wonton soup, noodle bowls and stir fries.
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454 g) Chicken Feet (Footnote 1)
- 3 lbs (1 kg) Chicken bone-in pieces (*Footnote 2)
- 2 oz (57 g) prosciutto (or other cured ham) (optional)
- 6 green onions
- 1 ” (2.5 cm) ginger large sliced
- 10 cups (2 l) cold tap water
Instructions
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Use a pair of poultry shears to clip off the nails from the chicken feet. Add the chicken feet into a big pot and add enough cold water to cover. Heat over medium-high heat until brought to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Then drain and discard the boiling water. Wash the chicken with running tap water thoroughly, then transfer to a large pot or dutch oven (5 1/2 qt or bigger).
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In the same pot, add the chicken pieces, prosciutto if using, green onion and ginger. Pour in the water.
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Heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Boil for 10 to 15 minutes while using a colander to remove the brown foam from the top, until the broth is clear. Turn to medium-low heat and cover. Simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours.
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Remove the chicken pieces and all the aromatics. If using the stock immediately, use a strainer to remove the chicken fat from the top. Alternatively, you can store the stock in the fridge. Once the soup is chilled, you can easily remove the chicken fat that’s coagulated on top.
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Now you can enjoy the stock by itself, use it in cooking, or store it for later use. Store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. (*Footnote 4)
Notes
- The gelatin from the chicken feet will melt into the soup, creating a nice jelly texture once the chicken stock is cooked and chilled. The feet are also quite cheap to obtain.
- I used skin-on bone-in chicken thighs. You can use other bone-in chicken cuts such as wings. It’s possible to use cheaper bone parts such as chicken back and neck. Bone-in cuts will create a nicer stock.
- Chinese restaurants use cured ham (金华火腿, Jin Hua Huo Tui) in the chicken broth to add another dimension of flavor. The closest cured ham outside of China is jamon iberico or prosciutto, which can be quite pricey. Sometimes you might be able to purchase prosciutto ends or prosciutto scraps, which are much cheaper. I highly recommend adding a small amount of it to further boost your chicken stock.
- I like to use a Zwilling vacuum sealer and container, which prolongs the stock’s shelf life in the fridge up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze the stock using an ice tray, so you can easily take out a small portion at a time for stir fries.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 80kcal, Protein: 14.5g, Fat: 2.1g, Saturated Fat: 0.6g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 34mg, Potassium: 101mg, Calcium: 7mg
The blog post was published in Nov 19, 2014 and updated in Jan 9, 2025.
