HOW TO MAKE A BROTH
Broth and stocks are intimately related, with the main difference being that broths are eaten as they are while stocks are used for cooking in other dishes. In addition, broths made of meat and poultry use the better parts of meat, not only the bones (as in stocks) but also some of the muscles and fat, although not the very best parts of course. When it comes to fish broths, they are usually made in fairly the same way as stocks, with some extras for garnishing, etc.
A broth has a few critical steps that need to be considered. It's all about getting the best flavor and a nice texture to it. For these reasons you should first consider the choice of your ingredients.
If you are making vegetable stock, you need to get the most aromatic veggies you can find. Usually the classic mirepoix vegetables are used (onions, carrots, celery) but you can and should add some more. Leeks, garlic, tomatoes, and also some of the cabbage vegetables can be used (be careful with the cabbages though as they will develop bad flavor if cooked for too long). For the meat stocks, choose the cuts that are from the animal parts that have been thoroughly exercised, and, which is imperative, choose the meat from the older animals that actually had a chance to get enough exercise. For fish stocks, you need to get lean white fish and avoid the oily ones. The oils in fish are very fragile and tend to quickly lose flavor when cooked for too long. For shellfish stocks, there is nothing simpler - just cook them in their shells, after a preceding thorough rinsing (you don't want to eat sand!).
For a good texture of the broth, it needs to be cooked in an even simmering temperature, and it needs to be skimmed as necessary. The more careful you are with these two factors, the clearer your broth will be.
One basic thing to keep in mind when attempting to make an intensely flavored broth is that flavor is built up by two things: the amount of ingredients, and the browning of ingredients. The more things you put into your broth the more intensively flavored it will be. And you can also sauté the ingredients in oil until they are lightly browned to create new flavor molecules.
In addition, flavor of the broth is further enhanced by the ingredients you usually add at the end of cooking, that is bouquet garni (see more on that on our HOW TO pages) or herbs. Or you can use some less common add-ons already from the beginning, like tomato paste or mushrooms.
Now that we went through the basics of broth composition, let's describe how to cook a classic broth.
For 1 liter/1 quart of broth you will need:
For meat or fish broth: 1.3 kg/3 lb. meat/fish and 0.5 kg/1 lb. mirepoix
For vegetable broth: 0.8 kg/2 lb. vegetables and 0.5 kg/1 lb. mirepoix
All broths can be further enhanced by bouquet garni
Starting water volume for meat broth should be 1.5 l/1.5 quart, and for the other broths about 1 l/1 quart
1. If you want to brown the mirepoix then do it on moderate heat in some oil.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a large pot in cool water and then bring everything gently to simmer. Make sure that all ingredients are covered in water, and that you skim the broth as necessary. The gentle simmering allows a nice flavor extraction and collects all crappy stuff on the surface so you can remove it (skimming). Boiling should be avoided since it can destroy the flavor.
3. During the 1-3 hours of simmering periodically check the flavor of the broth and when it seems alright, you can throw in a bouquet garni for 15 minutes to give the broth some more flavor. Make sure to use bouquet garni at the end of cooking, since the ingredients there release their flavors quickly and become faint with prolonged cooking.
4. Remove the big parts (e.g. meat) from the broth and the ladle the broth over a fine sieve to clarify it. Serve it garnished with some solid ingredients, e.g. meat, fish, shellfish, vegetables, pasta, chopped herbs or even with rice - all depending on the type of broth.