Superior Stock - 上湯 - Seung Tong
I love having 上湯 seung tong (superior stock) around. It’s really versatile and is a huge leap over many regular stocks. If you ever wondered why restaurant cooking is so good? This is one of those reasons. If you ever want to judge how good a Cantonese restaurant is, order something that showcases 上湯 seung tong. Or if you work there, just peek in the stockpot.
Stocks are a great way of making use of scraps. Restaurants regularly save bones, meat trimmings, stems, root ends and vegetable peels for stock. And this is great, I regularly save up chicken thigh bones and skin for stock making as well as certain vegetable trimmings like leeks and carrot skin in my freezer until a ziploc bag is pretty full and it’s then time to make some stock out of it. But there are some key differences in how Chinese stocks are made compared to French stocks which is what most Americans are familiar with.
Unlike French stocks, many Chinese chefs will include luxury ingredients in their superior stock. Besides finding a use for bones, Chinese stocks also deliberately add more meat to it imparting more flavor than the French counterparts. French stocks tend to use more vegetables, but also more bone so it can be turned into a demi-glace or glace for sauces.
As for 上湯 seung tong, this is generally considered a restaurant style stock and it’s not made at home often because it calls for specific ingredients. Where as home style cooking usually uses chicken stock or chicken bouillon. Most people will have different ways and ingredients making this, but the core part of superior stock is that it is made from chicken and pork. One very common ingredient used is 火腿 fo teui (ham) and while the really high quality kinds produced in China can be really difficult to get in the US, one of the best substitutes is uncooked Virginia country ham. If you don’t have access to this, prosciutto is also acceptable though not as good as it lacks the slight smoke flavor. If you do buy prosciutto, try and buy the ends that are much cheaper.
One personal touch that I like to add is high quality 紹興酒 siu hing jau, aka Shaoxing wine. Usually, this wine is very cheap, less than $3 a bottle and while this is fine everyday cooking there are different levels of quality. Part of the reason why the most common types of Shaoxing wine is cheap is that salt is added to it, and also likely bypasses some import taxes from being classified as a liquor and is likely to be categorized as groceries. But you see the exact same thing done with cooking sherry. The higher quality ones will have no salt and has a much more fragrant quality to it. For a stock that is such an elementary part of a dish, if you want a dish to really shine, every aspect must be of good quality.
RECIPE: Makes about 2.5 quarts
2 lbs of chicken or half of a chicken
2 lbs of pork neck bones
4 oz 火腿 fo teui, (Jinhua ham, Virginia country ham, or prosciutto end), cut into 1/2 cubes
2 oz dried scallops
1/2 c high quality shaoxing wine
8 slices of ginger
1 bunch of scallions
In a large pot of water, add water to about 3/4 capacity. There should be enough water that submerge the half chicken without overflowing. Bring the water to a boil.
Meanwhile, slice 8 slices of ginger and set 4 slices aside. Slice half the chicken saving the second half for other uses.
Set a cold water bath.
When the water comes to a boil, add 4 slices of ginger to the water. Add the chicken and boil for about 5 minutes to remove blood from the bones. Remove the chicken with tongs and set in cold water.
In the same pot of boiling water, add the pork neck bones and boil for 5 minutes to also remove the blood. While the neck bones are boiling, gently rinse the chicken half under cold water and set aside.
Transfer the pork neck bones to the water bath and rinse under the cold water, using your hands to rub off any impurities and blood that is been drawn out from the boiling.
Discard the water in the large pot.
In a large stock pot, place the chicken half, pork neck bones, diced 火腿 fo teui, dried scallops, 4 remaining slices of ginger, Shaoxing wine, and scallions. Add 4 quarts of water.
Heat the pot over high heat. As the stock approaches a gently simmer, you will start to see some foam form. Start skimming and reduce the heat down to about medium to medium-low to bring the stock up to a simmer. Do not let the stock boil over high heat as this will break down too many particles and this will be incorporated into the stock.
When the stock reaches a simmer, reduce heat to the lowest to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 4 hours.
Strain the stock and cool in a large container. An ice bath can be used if you are able to do this. When the stock is cooled, cover and place in the fridge overnight. The next day, skim off the excess fat that has coagulated and store in the fridge for about 3 days. For longer storage, store in the freezer.
