Westlake Emerald Stock

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Tips for making chicken, beef and fish stock: It’s recommended to cut the bones into smaller pieces (4 inches or so) in order to extract the most flavour and gelatine from the bones. If you’re not in the mood, throw them in whole—life is short.

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Vegetables should be cut in a size proportional to the cook time of the stock. You want the flavour extracted from the vegetables, but don’t need them turning to mush or it will interfere with the clarity of your stock.

 

3 litres of water

1 kg of meat or fish bones

2 onions

4 medium carrots

4 stalks celery

5 bay leaves

1 tsp peppercorns

large bunch of parsley

medium bunch thyme

2 tsp Westlake Emerald tea leaves

1 cup white wine (optional)

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• Cover the bones with fresh, cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

• Skim off any residue that has risen to the top.

• Add vegetables, herbs and tea.

• Keep the simmer low to prevent any residue that rises to the top from boiling back into your stock.

• Skim and add more water and wine as needed to keep the bones covered while boiling. 

• Remove pot from heat and let cool.

• Strain. The residual fat will rise to the top and form a solid film, making it easy to remove. Then you are left with a flavourful, clean stock that is free of fat.

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Meat stock generally takes about 5-6 hours, fish and vegetable stocks can be ready in just under an hour. I find using a pressure cooker is an excellent way to cut the time by half.