This is a great article, and I'm always looking for ways to boost the inherent flavours of the stocks I make. I'm really curious about the dry searing technique of the vegetables, and might incorporate that next time I do a chicken stock. Speaking of which, do you have tips or tidbits of knowledge on meat stocks/broths? Amounts of vegetables, or use of particular spices/ingredients that interact, play off, or boost the flavour? Or is that the subject of a future article? I've seen a few recipes where the onion in a sto
ck is charred, and there's a lot of talk about charring many of the vegetables for stocks to get a hint of smoke/caramel.
I've written about meat based stocks and broths in The Flavor Equation but I might revisit the topic later here. Regarding roasting vegetables, it does add a gentle hint of smokiness but I find a better way to do it for a more robust smoky flavor is to use smoked tea like lapsang souchong.
As someone who is obsessive about making my own stock/broth I found your article really interesting. I always include onion skins as I hate throwing them out and feel they add intensity to the colour. I have never found my stock to be bitter as a result. Another great ingredient for adding umami is miso paste - I mix some with water and add to the tray of veg before roasting in the oven for an hour and then everything into the pressure cooker (total game changer especially for meat-based stocks), I also add dried shiitake and a strip of kelp, fresh rosemary, thyme, bay. Anyway, can talk about until the cows come home....🤣
I'm referring to dried onion skins here but it also depends on two things. Concentration - a small handful won't make much of a difference and two, what ingredients you add. I describe this in a bit more detail in another thread here earlier. In cooking school and in most culinary textbooks, they always mention to stay away from onion peels for this very reason when making stocks.
I've definitely thrown onion/garlic ends and skins into stocks but never noticed my stocks get bitter. I wonder if it's because it gets overwhelmed by the sweetness elsewhere? (I usually use various odds and ended, but particularly cauliflower stalks/innards/broccoli ends/leadfy greens and I always buy a carrot to throw in there)
Hi Jon, you're on the right track. There are two things that will help explain this. The first is concentration, how much dried onion skin are you adding to the stock. A small handful won't make much of a difference. The second, depending on what ingredients go into the pot, they can mask the bitter polyphenols. There is a third possibility but less likely to occur, polyphenols can also bind other ingredients and might get removed during straining. In commercial industrial preparations of broths and stocks onion peels are never used, instead they're used as a source to collect these poylphenols that are then converted into health pills.
This is an excellent summary. Umami is so important, especially in a dark broth. My family loves roasted vegetable soup, but I realized that to avoid bitterness I had to choose the vegetables carefully and then only about 1/3 of them should be roasted (these are added during the last 15 min). This way you get a nice balanced flavor - herbal, sweet, aromatic.
This is a great article, and I'm always looking for ways to boost the inherent flavours of the stocks I make. I'm really curious about the dry searing technique of the vegetables, and might incorporate that next time I do a chicken stock. Speaking of which, do you have tips or tidbits of knowledge on meat stocks/broths? Amounts of vegetables, or use of particular spices/ingredients that interact, play off, or boost the flavour? Or is that the subject of a future article? I've seen a few recipes where the onion in a sto
ck is charred, and there's a lot of talk about charring many of the vegetables for stocks to get a hint of smoke/caramel.
I've written about meat based stocks and broths in The Flavor Equation but I might revisit the topic later here. Regarding roasting vegetables, it does add a gentle hint of smokiness but I find a better way to do it for a more robust smoky flavor is to use smoked tea like lapsang souchong.
As someone who is obsessive about making my own stock/broth I found your article really interesting. I always include onion skins as I hate throwing them out and feel they add intensity to the colour. I have never found my stock to be bitter as a result. Another great ingredient for adding umami is miso paste - I mix some with water and add to the tray of veg before roasting in the oven for an hour and then everything into the pressure cooker (total game changer especially for meat-based stocks), I also add dried shiitake and a strip of kelp, fresh rosemary, thyme, bay. Anyway, can talk about until the cows come home....🤣
I'm referring to dried onion skins here but it also depends on two things. Concentration - a small handful won't make much of a difference and two, what ingredients you add. I describe this in a bit more detail in another thread here earlier. In cooking school and in most culinary textbooks, they always mention to stay away from onion peels for this very reason when making stocks.
I still think you could have called it Mangola (unless there are trademark issues) lolll
The recipe looks fab!
This was so interesting and informative, Nik! Thank you! :)
I've definitely thrown onion/garlic ends and skins into stocks but never noticed my stocks get bitter. I wonder if it's because it gets overwhelmed by the sweetness elsewhere? (I usually use various odds and ended, but particularly cauliflower stalks/innards/broccoli ends/leadfy greens and I always buy a carrot to throw in there)
Hi Jon, you're on the right track. There are two things that will help explain this. The first is concentration, how much dried onion skin are you adding to the stock. A small handful won't make much of a difference. The second, depending on what ingredients go into the pot, they can mask the bitter polyphenols. There is a third possibility but less likely to occur, polyphenols can also bind other ingredients and might get removed during straining. In commercial industrial preparations of broths and stocks onion peels are never used, instead they're used as a source to collect these poylphenols that are then converted into health pills.
This is an excellent summary. Umami is so important, especially in a dark broth. My family loves roasted vegetable soup, but I realized that to avoid bitterness I had to choose the vegetables carefully and then only about 1/3 of them should be roasted (these are added during the last 15 min). This way you get a nice balanced flavor - herbal, sweet, aromatic.
I love that you pay detailed attention to the tastes when making your stocks. It's such an important part of the process and yields the best results!
Now I remember why I bough that nutritional yeast! So many good tips here.
And for popcorn!
Yes...on adding umami to a vegetable broth - it brings so much to whatever use the broth eventually plays.