Vegetable/chicken stock. I am about to simmer chicken to shred. I want to add some basic things like onion, garlic, etc. I would then like to remove e

I am about to simmer chicken to shred. I want to add some basic things like onion, garlic, etc. I would then like to remove everything from that liquid and add my other veggies, to preserve the flavor from the chicken and make stock for soup. Will doing so cause the flavors of the original vegetables to overcook and become bitter? Or is it over cooking the vegetables themselves that creates a bad taste?

Britt.son
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2 Comments

drbabs
drbabs November 20, 2021
When we make traditional Jewish chicken soup, we cook the chicken with onions, carrots, parsnips, turnip, and dill. (Here’s a recipe https://food52.com/recipes/20653-reform-jewish-penicillin). The flavor tends to get leached out of all the vegetables after such a long cooking time, but the onions and carrots are usually edible (to my husband, anyway, who thinks of them as a treat). Same with chicken stock where the broth gets flavored with the vegetables, but they’re not really delicious at the end of the cooking time. You use the flavored broth as a base for whatever soup you’re making. So your instincts are correct— cook the aromatics in the broth, then remove them and add fresh ingredients later. You might consider making the stock first and then poaching the chicken in the flavored broth after the aromatics have been removed.
 
Nancy
Nancy November 21, 2021
Years of making chicken soup - similar experience to drbabs in her note her and linked recipe.
A few variations -
* the vegetables, after cooking to make broth, don't turn bitter, but often are just exhausted of flavor and texture. Some, like her husband, like them. Some don't.
* for meat flavor and shredded chicken meat - many options. Chicken carcass or bones or rotisserie chicken from a grocery store or a whole raw chicken. One good recipe from Molly Baz at the BA test kitchen a couple years ago is clever about cooking a whole raw chicken in the broth - she removes each part (breast, legs', wings) as it is done, so you get cooked tender but not overdone chicken meat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRcCSNdGdKM&t=317s
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/classic-chicken-noodle-soup
* added step to refine the soup and give you usable chicken fat. after the broth is cooked & drained, store overnight in fridge. Next day, skim off and save most or all of the fat collected on top. This is usable for frying good things, like potatoes. There will still be fat in the soup.
* finishing - if you want vegetable garnish, cook one or two each carrot, parsnip and celery stalk, roughly chopped. If you want carb garnish, cook some noodles or matzoh balls. If not, serve with good bread, crackers or croutons.
Enjoy!
 
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