Prawn Heads Stock Base 虾头浓汤底
In South East Asia, seafood or chicken stock are commonly used as a base to cook many dishes. In Singapore, for instance, we use Prawn Heads Stock Base 虾头浓汤底 as a base to cook local delights such as Hokkien Fried Noodles, Prawn Mee, Tom Yum Soup, Steam Boat Soup Base.... etc.
Therefore, I inculcate the habit of stocking different frozen stock bases in boxes as they'll surely come in handy when I decide to cook any specific dishes 'from scratch' instead of using store bought pastes and packet stocks. The prawn heads stock is not difficult to make. I usually collect the prawn heads in my freezer and only brew it when I have few hours of spare time. There's really no fixed rules and methods to brew the stock base. What I'm sharing here is a method that suits my home cooking style, without using extravagant ingredients. Do make your own adjustments accordingly.
Therefore, I inculcate the habit of stocking different frozen stock bases in boxes as they'll surely come in handy when I decide to cook any specific dishes 'from scratch' instead of using store bought pastes and packet stocks. The prawn heads stock is not difficult to make. I usually collect the prawn heads in my freezer and only brew it when I have few hours of spare time. There's really no fixed rules and methods to brew the stock base. What I'm sharing here is a method that suits my home cooking style, without using extravagant ingredients. Do make your own adjustments accordingly.
Ingredients (enough for about 2 to 2.5 litre) :
- 2 boxes of raw prawn heads and shells (lunch box size)
- 1 cup ikan bills or small yellow shrimps
- 1/2 to 1 chicken or duck carcass (frozen from leftover meals) or some poached pork meat or bones.
- 1 cup soy beans
- 8 to 10 slices ginger
- 2 mid sized onions (julienned)
- 8 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise (broken into pieces)
- 3 pcs cloves
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 to 3 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
- 1 to 2 tbsp gula melaka/palm sugar (or to taste)
- 2.5 litre water
(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)
Method :
- Heat a little oil and lightly stir fry all aromatic ingredients (i.e. ginger, onions, garlic, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, peppercorns) in soup pot at medium heat till aromatic.
- Add prawn heads, shells and ikan bilis into the pot and stir fry till fragrant.
- Add water and soy beans into soup pot, cover lid and allow to simmer at medium heat till boiled.
- Upon boiling point, turn to low heat and continue to simmer for 3 to 4 hours or to your satisfied richness.
- Turn off heat and allow stock to cool.
- Remove scums and strain stock before scooping into respective storage containers.
- Freeze till ready to use.
The soup taste is not intense or too flavourful at this stage. I usually add seasonings to taste upon cooking as different dish would require different level of flavours and intensity. This would allow some room for adjustments upon cooking.
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