4 life hacks for making the perfect broth from the chef of Hell's Kitchen

Iryna Melnichenko LS Food09.09.2024 19:54

Alex Yakutov shared his recipe for the perfect broth

Broth is a delicious and satisfying option for lunch, dinner, and even breakfast. It seems very easy to cook it – boil the meat and add vegetables, but it's not that simple, because every little thing is important when preparing this dish – from meat to spices.

The chef of Hell's Kitchen (New Channel), Alex Yakutov, shared 4 life hacks that will help you make the perfect broth and also told why and how to freeze the finished broth.

Life hack №1: making the right broth

"There are two principles for cooking meat. The first is that if you're going to eat the meat, it's better to throw it straight into boiling water – this way, the meat juice and bright flavor will remain inside," Alex says.

The chef noted that if you want a broth, then you need the meat to give off its flavor.

To do this, throw it into cold water. This will make the broth richer, but the meat itself will be tasteless.

Life hack №2 – calculate the perfect time

Hell's Chef noted that chicken broth cooks quickly and can be prepared in about two hours. But if you take beef joints and knees, they will have to be cooked for six to seven hours. The broth has to simmer – the slower it boils, the lighter it will be.

To make it rich and satisfying, I like to take pork joints, chicken legs, and you can add beef tails. When the broth boils for the first time, all the dirt rises to the top – drain this broth completely. Then re-fill the meat with water and put it on low heat.

Life hack №3 – add aromatic spices

Yakutov explained that as soon as the new water boils, a bouquet of garni should be sent to the pot, adding a couple of bay leaves, a juniper berry, five cloves, black and allspice, thyme, and parsley stalks.

Tie everything up with string or wrap it in cheesecloth and send it to the meat. During cooking, the bouquet will give its flavor to the broth. Then it is easy to take it by the string and pull it out of the pan. We also add two or three onions, two carrots, one parsley root and one parsnip root to the meat. Parsnips can be replaced with half a celery root.

Life hack №4 – harvesting for the future

It is best to strain the finished broth immediately

Alex Yakutov advises straining the broth as soon as it is cooked and also freezing it.

It is very cool to freeze it, to do this, pour the broth into boxes and send it to the freezer. Then you can cook any soups or borscht with it. You don't have to prepare a new broth every time.