Chicken Broth

Chicken broth is one of the most popular basic type of a soup in Poland. It’s also known to be on every single Sunday at home. You probably will wonder why? It is a simple soup that is also a fantastic base for other soups or meals/dishes (like risotto, added to pasta, etc.)

It’s also great when you have a flu or just feeling “under the weather”, filled with all the goodies to keep you going.

Ingredients:

For a big pot of soup (@3l pot)

1-2x big chicken leg - rinse under the cold tap

3-4x carrots, peeled and chopped whichever way you wish (just remember thicker the slices longer it will take to soften)

3-4x parsley roots, peeled and chopped

1x small celery root, peeled and chopped

1x leek, remove the end and outside first layer, then rinse under water, cut in half or into smaller circles

1x small onion, peeled, cut in half and then burned on the plain pan from each side, just to caramelise it, it will add fantastic colour

3x bay leaves

3-4x allspice

3-4x dried juniper fruit

Fresh parsley, washed and chopped for serving (optional)

Freshly cooked thin, small pieces of pasta (similar to spaghetti pasta, but thinner and smaller)

Knorr chicken / chicken beef cubes for extra taste

Take a big pot, add your chicken leg, cover with cold tap water and put on the gas to cook. Do NOT COVER the pot! That’s very important as alternatively it will be foggy, not a nice and clear soup.

While the water and chicken start to get warmer, prepare all the veggies and add to the chicken. Add your spices as well.

When water starts boiling in the pot, lower the heat just to have it gently simmer. Leave it for a good 30mins.

When you come back you should see a kind of white/browny foam forming on top of your soup. Take a spoon and a bowl and clear it all out, to make sure your broth will be so nice and clear. Add some cold tap water to top it up.

And now you can forget of your gently simmering broth for another hour or so. Just check it every now and then to take any of the foam out or to top it up with some cold water.

After around 2-3hours of cooking your broth should be ready - veggies should be lovely and soft and chicken leg should literally fall apart.

I normally add some chicken (or chicken beef cubes or both) cubes from Knorr just for an extra taste and serve it with noodles and freshly chopped parsley. Enjoy!