How to Make Vietnamese Chicken Stock — Vicky Pham

Ingredients and Substitutes

Chicken Meat and Bones: You can use either a whole chicken, chicken bones or a combination of both. However, just chicken bones are highly recommended for an amazing bone broth.

You can find chicken carcasses at Asian grocery stores. They are ideal for making chicken stock and usually sold for very cheap.

Yellow Onions: Yellow onions add a natural and subtle sweetness to the stock. If you don’t have yellow onions, use shallots instead.

Ginger: A quintessential ingredient in Vietnamese, Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking, ginger lends a warm and soft kick to the stock.

Green onions (Optional): Also known as scallions or spring onions, throw them into the pot if you have them. It’s a great way to use sad-looking green onions that have been sitting in the fridge.

Daikin (Optional): To provide more of depth to the stock, but don’t use too much as it can get overpowering.

How to Make It

Step 1: Prep Your Ingredients

Peel the most outer layer of the yellow onions. You can leave the ginger and daikon unpeeled. Slice the ginger into thick coins and smash each coin to help release its aroma. Cut the daikon into small chunks.

Step 2: Simmer and Skim

Add everything to a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to low simmer.

Occasionally, skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the surface with a spoon or fine mesh strainer and discard.

Allow the stock to simmer, uncovered, for about 2 hours if it’s just bones.

If you are using whole chicken, the meat is done in about one hour. Remove the chicken meat from the bones to not overcook them and save it for another dish.

Return the bones back to the pot and continue cooking.

Step 3: Strain and Store

Remove all the solids from the stock. Let it cool before transferring it to the fridge or freezer for storage so you have it ready for your dish.

Seasonings to Turn Stock into Delicious Broth

Use the following seasonings, a little at a time to taste, to turn this chicken stock into a wonderful Vietnamese broth:

Dishes that Use Chicken Stock

Here are some dishes you can make using this chicken stock: