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A delicious broth is an indispensable component in Vietnamese cuisine, yet not everyone knows how to quickly simmer pork bones to achieve a tender result with a flavorful broth. Simplifying the cooking process, Mytour has curated simple and easy pork broth recipes for you to try.
1. Choosing Fresh and Quality Pork Bones
Depending on the dish, selecting the right pork bones is crucial. Fresh and quality pork bones will exhibit a light pink hue, a resilient texture on the meat adhering to the bones, and no excessive greasiness. Conversely, if the bones appear deep red, greasy, and tacky to the touch, they may be spoiled and unsuitable for consumption.
Photo: Curated Collection
Each type of bone corresponds to different methods of simmering pork bones. The deliciousness of the simmered dish is determined by the time, temperature, and accompanying ingredients. Marrow bones produce the most flavorful broth, hence they are often used to cook dishes like hotpot, pho, noodles, and hu tieu... For daily cooking, you can choose rib bones, trotters, or young ribs to ensure the sweetness of the broth and reduce cooking time.
2. Preparing Pork Bones
Before simmering, it's crucial to thoroughly remove any unpleasant odor from the pork bones. Improper preparation can result in a broth with a strong odor, excessive foam, and lacking natural sweetness.
Removing the odor from pork bones is quite simple. You need to wash them with diluted salt water and rub them with some crushed ginger. Then, blanch the pork bones in boiling water and rinse them again with clean water to remove any impurities. Before simmering, it's important to chop the bones into small pieces to extract the sweetness of the marrow.
Photo: Curated Collection
You may also be interested:
- What dishes can you make with pork marrow bones
- How to cook pork bone hotpot
3. Simmering Process and a Handy Tip
After preparing the ingredients, let's dive into the process of simmering pork bones following the instructions below.
- Fill a pot with water on the stove until the water covers the pork bones.
- Place the pork bones in the pot and simmer over high heat. Be sure not to cover the pot completely because the bone broth is prone to becoming cloudy, so leave a small gap.
- When the broth is boiling, skim off the foam and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. This way, the bones will release more sweetness and the broth will become clearer.
- During simmering, you can add some slices of ginger, star anise, cinnamon, spring onions, and coriander roots (if available) to enhance the fragrance of the broth.
Photo: Curated Collection
Key Points During the Bone Simmering Stage
- It's recommended to simmer pork bones for at least 1 hour. Simmer until the meat around the bones is tender. At this point, the broth will be the sweetest.
- Avoid simmering for more than 6 hours as it can result in cloudy broth with a sour taste.
- To prevent cloudy broth, refrain from adding soup powder or bouillon cubes, only add a little salt.
- A natural way to enhance sweetness in pork bone broth is to use vegetables instead of seasoning powder.
4. Quick and Delicious Bone Simmering Tips
Utilize the spices available in your kitchen and a touch of creativity in cooking methods to make family meals more diverse and tasty. Below are some quick ways to simmer pork bones to create flavorful, clear broth using readily available ingredients.
Using a Pressure Cooker
When simmering pork bones with a pressure cooker, simply pour in enough water to cover the bones. Since less steam escapes during pressure cooking compared to regular simmering, you need less water.
- For stovetop pressure cookers, wait until the pressure valve stops releasing steam, then add carrots and potatoes and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes. Finally, add aromatic herbs and a little spring onion.
- For electric pressure cookers, select the desired simmering mode (normal or slow simmer). The pressure cooker will simmer automatically and release steam once the cycle ends. Then, add vegetables, choose the low setting, simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes, then press cancel.
Photo: Curated Collection
Using Vinegar
A popular method of simmering pork bones is using vinegar. Simply add a little vinegar to the pot to tenderize the bones quickly and make the meat sweeter. Vinegar helps the pork bones release iron, calcium, and preserves vitamins during cooking.
Simmering Bones with Vegetables
Add vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, leeks, onions, ginger, lemongrass, into the pot with pork bones. Wait until the bones are tender, and you'll smell a gentle aroma blending between the bones and vegetables. This method enhances the sweetness of the broth and ensures the bones cook quickly and become tender.
Photo: Curated Collection
Simmering Bones with Ice
Simmering pork bones with ice can also help shorten the simmering time. After cleaning and preparing the pork bones, place them in a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until boiling. Once the pot is boiling, add ice cubes and continue simmering until the water boils again. Check if the bones are tender, if they are, turn off the heat.
5. Dealing with Cloudy Bone Broth
Some handy tips from Mytour Blog will help you quickly overcome:
- Method 1: Use a thin cloth to strain the broth into another pot. The cloth will catch bone fragments and residue. Then, boil the broth again.
- Method 2: Separate egg whites, whisk, and add to the pot of simmering pork bone broth. When you see foam coagulating and floating to the top, use salt to skim it off for clearer broth.
- Method 3: In addition to vegetables, you can add a few dried shiitake mushrooms to the broth for clarity.
Pork bone broth is extremely nutritious but not too difficult to make. Simply apply the methods of simmering pork bones above, and you can successfully cook the broth quickly while still ensuring its delicious aroma.
Some delicious dishes from pork bones:
- How to Cook Pork Rib Noodle Soup
- Fail-Proof Recipe for Delicious Pork Bone Broth
