Do you need to blanch the chicken when stewing chicken soup?

Before answering this question, I want to repeat that "stew soup" is a completely different concept in South Guangdong and North China.

In the eyes of Cantonese, "stew soup" means: put the ingredients into a ceramic (or purple sand) stew pot, add a proper amount of cold water, then put the stew pot into the stew pot, and add water (cold water or hot water) into the stew pot. Then heat the stew pot to make the water in the pot boil, and then use boiling water to conduct heat through the ceramic stew pot, so that the temperature of the ingredients and water in the stew pot rises slowly until it reaches the same temperature as the boiling water, and the ingredients and water are stewed at a constant temperature of 100℃ for several hours to form soup.

But in the eyes of northerners, the so-called "stew soup" is to put the processed ingredients in a pot with water and stew them directly. This practice is called "making soup" in Guangdong.

Therefore, when Lao Zheng answers your question, he must answer it from two directions in order to answer it more objectively and comprehensively.

Below, Lao Zheng answers this question from the perspective of braised chicken soup and braised chicken soup. Everyone is welcome to criticize and correct me.

Stewed chicken soup

Before stewing chicken soup, it has always been controversial whether chicken needs to be blanched. Since there is controversy, let's analyze the role of drowning first.

In many hotel chefs' videos and pictures, we can often hear or see the saying that blanching the meat first can remove blood and reduce the fishy smell.

Does the smell of chicken really come from blood? Lao Zheng does not agree with this view.

As we said before, cold water was added to the stew when the chicken soup was stewed.

Generally, friends with kitchen experience know a phenomenon: after the chicken is out of the pot, its temperature is about 100℃. Then enter cold water, and alternating hot and cold will make the chicken shrink quickly. It is precisely because of this operation that it will be difficult for chicken to release the contents, and the sweet taste of soup will be greatly reduced.

When stewing chicken soup with cold water, the chicken and ingredients are in the stew pot, and the temperature in the stew pot rises slowly after the pot is cooked. Chicken is always at a constant temperature, slowly releasing its contents.

Lao Zheng once carefully observed the state of chicken stew at various stages:

(1) After stewing the chicken soup for about 2 hours, the soup is still turbid, and the fishy smell is very strong when the lid is opened.

(2) After stewing the chicken soup for about 3 hours, the soup began to become clear, and the fishy smell when the lid was opened was much lighter.

(3) After stewing the chicken soup for three and a half hours, the soup becomes clearer and more transparent, and the fishy smell cannot be smelled when the lid is opened, but the taste of the soup is still insufficient.

(4) Stewed chicken soup for more than 4 hours, the soup color is clear and transparent, and the aroma is overflowing when the lid is opened. After adding the right amount of salt to taste, the chicken soup is fragrant and sweet, and it feels like jelly after eating.

The comparative experiment proves that the time of stewing chicken soup is the most critical to get the best taste. The smell of chicken soup will change with the time of stewing soup. From this point of view, stewing soup for more than 4 hours is an effective way to remove the fishy smell of chicken soup.

Stewed chicken soup

Boiling chicken soup is different from stewing chicken soup. In Guangdong, there are many practices of chicken soup, and each practice is different.

Some friends cook chicken soup, like to blanch it first, and then put it directly into boiling water. Some friends blanch the chicken, wash it with supercooled water, remove the floating foam, and then cook it with cold water.

In northern Guangdong, some friends will first blanch the chicken and then fry it in a white pot (without oil). After the chicken is fried, pour in boiling water and cook it with the ingredients.

There are many ways to make chicken soup, some are cooked and some are not cooked. However, Lao Zheng wants to use another method to demonstrate whether chicken soup really needs blanching.

Lao Zheng planted an organic tea garden in Shixing County, Shaoguan, Guangdong Province. There is a farmhouse near the tea garden, and the boss is local.

Every time he takes a friend to Chashan, Lao Zheng eats at the farmhouse. After a while, I got acquainted with my boss.

The boss keeps a lot of chickens, all of which are kept in bamboo forests. Make an appointment one night in advance every time you go up the mountain, so that the chicken can be cooked first and eaten the next day.

Free-range native chicken is delicious. Lao Zheng taught his boss this way:

After the chicken is slaughtered, the skin is peeled and the meat is taken. The chicken skin and chicken are cut separately and marinated with a little raw flour, peanut oil and a little salt for a while. Cut the chicken skeleton into small pieces and marinate it with proper amount of oil and salt. Wash the chicken offal and cut into pieces for later use.

Add enough water to the wok, soak the dried mushrooms slightly, wash off the impurities, put them in the wok, add a few slices of ginger, and boil over high heat.

After the water is boiled, pour in chicken bones, chicken offal and chicken blood, and continue to cook with high fire. Do not cover it (covering it will make the fishy smell linger and affect the taste of chicken soup). The water boiled in the pot boils again, and the floating foam gathers on the water surface, and the floating foam is skimmed off with a spoon.

After skimming the floating foam, pour the chicken skin and chicken into the pot and continue to cook over high heat. When the water is about to boil, floating foam appears on the water surface again. Continue to skim the floating foam with a spoon.

After the water is boiled, turn to low heat and cook for a few minutes, and then you can enjoy the food.

The chicken soup cooked in this way takes about ten minutes, but it tastes good. There was no drowning in the whole process, but there was no taste at all.

answer the question

When stewing chicken soup, chicken doesn't need to be blanched at all. Through the practical cases of the above two practices, it is shown that chicken without blanching will not produce fishy smell as long as it is done properly.

Conscientious, persistent, and pursuing a higher level of food. I am Lao Zheng, a tea farmer who loves to cook. Explore the mystery of food, share the practice of food, and enjoy the happiness of food with you! @ Tea farmers who love cooking

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