Stock, sometimes called bone broth, is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many dishes particularly , , and . Making stock involves simmering animal bones, meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, often for an extended period. Mirepoix or other aromatics may be added for more flavor.
Preparation
Traditionally, stock is made by
simmering various ingredients in water. A newer approach is to use a
Pressure cooking. The ingredients may include some or all of the following:
Bones: Beef and chicken bones are most commonly used; fish is also common. The flavor of the stock comes from the bone marrow, cartilage and other connective tissue. Connective tissue contains collagen, which is converted into gelatin that thickens the liquid. Stock made from bones needs to be simmered for long periods; pressure cooking methods shorten the time necessary to extract the flavor from the bones.
Meat: Cooked meat still attached to bones is also used as an ingredient, especially with chicken stock. Meat cuts with a large amount of connective tissue, such as shoulder cuts, are also used.
Mirepoix: Mirepoix is a combination of , , celery, and sometimes other vegetables added to flavor the stock. Sometimes, the less desirable parts of the vegetables that may not otherwise be eaten (such as carrot skins and celery cores and leaves) are used, as the solids are removed from stock.
Herbs and spices: The and used depend on availability and local traditions. In classical cuisine, the use of a bouquet garni ('bag of herbs') consisting of parsley, bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, and possibly other herbs, is common. This is often placed in a sachet to make it easier to remove once the stock is cooked.
Types
Basic stocks are usually named for the primary meat type. A distinction is usually made between
fond blanc, or white stock, made by using raw bones and mirepoix, and
fond brun, or brown stock, which gets its color by roasting the bones and mirepoix before boiling; the bones may also be coated in
tomato paste before roasting. Chicken is most commonly used for
fond blanc, while beef or veal are most commonly used in
fond brun.
Other regional varieties include:
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Dashi is a family of stocks in Japanese cuisine, typically made by briefly simmering a variety of kelp called kombu in nearly boiling water, often with other ingredients such as katsuobushi or shiitake.
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Myeolchi yuksu is a stock in Korean cuisine made by briefly cooking dried anchovies with kelp in nearly boiling water.
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Glace de viande is stock, usually made from veal, that is highly concentrated by reduction.
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Ham stock, common in Cajun cooking, is made from .
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Master stock is a Chinese stock used primarily for poaching meats, flavored with soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and other aromatics.
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Prawn stock is made from boiling prawn shells. It is used in dishes such as laksa.
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Remouillage is a second stock made from the same set of bones.
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Bran stock is bran boiled in water. It can be used to thicken meat soups, used as a stock for vegetable soups or made into soup itself with onions, vegetables and molasses.
Stock versus broth
Health claims
By the early 2010s, "bone broth" had become a popular health food trend, due to the resurgence in popularity of dietary fat over sugar, and interest in "
" to which "culinary medicinals" such as
turmeric and
ginger could be added. Bone broth bars, bone broth home delivery services, bone broth carts, and bone broth freezer packs grew in popularity in the United States.
The fad was heightened by the 2014 book
Nourishing Broth, in which authors Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel claim that the broth's nutrient density has a variety of health effects.
[Heid, Markham (January 6, 2016). "Science Can't Explain Why Everyone is Drinking Bone Broth". Time.][Blaszyk, Amy (February 10, 2015). "Taking Stock Of Bone Broth: Sorry, No Cure-All Here". NPR.]
There is no scientific evidence to support many of the claims made for bone broth.
In popular culture
Grogu sipping bone broth in "" (2019), the fourth episode of the first season of the American streaming television series The Mandalorian, became an Internet meme, as the cuteness of the character's slurping made two other characters abruptly stop fighting.
Bibliography
