Home Made Chicken Essence

My children are very fussy when it comes to drinking chicken essence. They will not drink any brand and any type of bottled chicken essence. They just hate the taste. Even the mildest plain Brand's Chicken Essence also failed to win them over. So I had to try cooking chicken essence myself. The first time I cooked this, they drank every drop of it! And they have lovingly named it 'Mummy's Chicken Essence'. I have tried numerous ways on making chicken essence. And I am happy to say I have found the best method that makes the best pure chicken essence, with no water added.

Ever since the launch of this new product, Sakura Fresh Chicken, I have been using it for my chicken dishes, especially for chicken essence and soups. The chicken is reared in a clean and controlled environment by a group of qualified technicians using advanced Japanese lactobcillus farming technology. They do not inject the chicken with anitbiotics, thus the chicken is more tender, tasty & juicy. They have several other products like bean sprouts and eggs which I have found to be delicious too.



I must say that Sakura Fresh Chicken is really very good and it does not have a lot of fats like normal chickens do. And it tastes better than kampung chickens. It may be a little more expensive, but with the quality that I get, I feel that it's worth every penny. Moreover any food that is not injected with synthetic antibiotics is always a good thing for out health.

Inorder to make the pure chicken essence, I have to mention about the Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker that I use. I saw this in a Taiwanese TV program showing that it can to extract pure chicken essence without having to add any water. And the amount of essence was quite a lot. I know that other pressure cookers can also do the same. But I have found them to be not as effective as this. This pressure cooker has 2 internal inserts - a perforated and a non-perforated one. Place 5 bowls of water into the pressure cooker pot, place the non-perforated insert into the pot (leave it empty - this is where all the chicken essence will drip into), then place the perforated insert (with the prepared chicken inside) into the pot. Lock the pressure cooker lid and cook. I was very happy when I found out that it was available in Singapore too. I quickly contacted the Singapore agent, and got myself one set. And I have no regrets ever since! Now I can cook delicious pure chicken essence for my family.

To expedite the process of defrosting the chicken, I placed it into my oven and used the defrost mode. It is good to know that I can defrost frozen food in my oven other than just baking :)

 my oven's defrost function

 place the chicken into a large ziploc bag

(this prevents water from splashing around when flattening the chicken)

 use the back of a chopper knife and flatten the chicken

(make sure to smash on all the boney areas)

 the 'flattened' chicken

 place flattened chicken into the perforated insert

 place the non perforated insert into the pot

 place the perforated insert (with the chicken inside) into the pot

 use high heat & cook till 2 red lines appear

(this indicates that it has reached the right pressure)

 see how dry the chicken has become?...

... all the essence and juice is HERE!

 a big bowl of pure chicken essence!

Home Made Pure Chicken Essence

Ingredients:

1 Sakura Fresh Chicken

salt & sugar to taste

Method:

1. Wash chicken thoroughly, cut away the feet and trim away the fatty areas.
2. Place into a large ziploc bag, seal the opening (remember to press out the air first). Use the back of a chopper knife and flatten the chicken as much as you can. Be sure to break all the boney areas. This step is important so that more juice can be extracted from the chicken.
3. Place 5 bowls of water into the pot. Place the non-perforated insert into the pot.
4. Place prepared chicken into the perforated insert and place this into the pot.
5. Close and lock the pressure cooker lid.
6. Use high heat and cook till the needle shows 2 red lines. Lower the heat and cook for 2hrs.
7. When the time is up, turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker cool down before you open the lid.
8. Add salt & sugar to taste.

Note:

• You can also use a normal pressure cooker to make this. Place enough water into the pot. Place a metal stand into the pot.  Place a bowl or small metal pot inside. Place another metal stand into this bowl or pot. Place the prepared chicken on the metal stand. Cover and lock the pressure cooker lid. For this method you will have to find metal stands, and bowl that can fit into your pressure cooker. If your pressure cooker comes with some inserts, use those. Just make sure that the water you put into the bottom of the pot is not too much or else it can go into the chicken essence and it'll become very diluted.
• It is also possible, using the above arrangement, for a normal pot. But you will have to cook it for many hours. From what i know, is at least 5hrs and the chicken essence is only about a bowl. 
• As my kids do not like the smell & taste of chinese herbs, I don't add them when I make my chicken essence. But you can add the herbs of your choice into the container where the essence will be collected in. But do not add too much or the soup will be bitter. 
• Using my Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker, I get about 725ml of chicken essence enough for my family of 4