Thai-Style Stock (Nam Stock)

August 2, 2015

Thai-Style Stock (Nam Stock) © kvalifood.com

A simple Thai-flavoured stock made from chicken or pork bones with garlic, cilantro roots, lemongrass, and white peppercorns. Using stock instead of water makes a real difference in soups, curries, and stir-fry sauces. Make a big batch on the weekend and freeze it in portions - your weeknight cooking will be noticeably better for it. Don’t worry about having every aromatic on hand; even just bones and water will give you something worth using. About 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Ingredients

Makes 6-8 cups

900 g chicken bones (or pork bones)
3 ½ l water
1 medium onion, large dice
5 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cilantro roots, crushed (or 8 cilantro stems)
1 stalk lemongrass, top half only, smashed and cut into 5 cm pieces
1/2 tsp white peppercorns, lightly crushed

Directions

Rinse the bones in cold water and place them in a large stock pot. Trim off any large pieces of fat from chicken bones. Cover with cold water and bring to a simmer over high heat. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer.

After 45 minutes, skim off any foam or impurities that have floated to the surface.

Add the onion, garlic, cilantro roots, lemongrass, and white peppercorns. For chicken stock, simmer for at least another 30 minutes. For pork stock, simmer for at least 1 more hour.

Strain the stock and it’s ready to use.

Notes

Pork bones are available at Chinese butchers and grocery stores.
Daikon radish can be used instead of onion, which is common in Thailand.
For freezing, pour the stock into zip-top freezer bags, leaving room for expansion. Lay the bags flat so they freeze into thin, space-efficient slabs that thaw quickly.
Don’t have all the aromatics? Make the stock anyway. Just bones and water still produces something far better than plain water in your cooking.