Seaweed & Chicken Broth 

With Pickled Channel wrack and crispy kelp

Ingredients

For the Broth:

1 leftover chicken carcass

Whatever leftover vegetables you have in the fridge:

Ideally - 1 leek

2 sticks of celery (chopped)

1 onion (whole)

2 stalks of spring onion (chopped)

A handful of mushrooms (chopped)

2-3 peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 strand/leaf of kelp

water

Sunflower oil

For the Pickled Channel Wrack:

3 handfuls of channel wrack

3 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp Tamari

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp honey or mirin

chopped garlic clove 

chopped thumb of ginger

1 tsp whiskey (optional)

Instructions

This is a great recipe for clearing out the fridge. And with 2.9 billion pounds of food being wasted around the world, and 19% of fruit and vegetables going uneaten and discarded in our homes, this is something we should all be doing more of. 

For the broth:

In a large pot or stock pot, sautéé the peppercorns, bay leaf, whole onion, handful of chopped mushrooms, two stalks of chopped celery in a drizzle of sunflower oil on medium heat. After a few minutes, add the chicken carcass to the pot and sautée in the oil and vegetable mixture for a few minutes until the meat on the carcass is browned. Once browned, fill up the pot with water until the chicken is fully covered. Add the kelp to the water at this point and bring the water to the boil.

Once the water is boiling, remove the lid from the pot and reduce the heat to bring the water to a simmer. At this point remove the kelp and set aside for crisping later. 

Leave the pot to simmer for approximately 3 hours allowing the water to reduce and skimming off any scum as it rises to the surface.

After 3 hours, remove the whole onion and chicken carcass from the broth, removing whatever chicken meat from the carcass that is edible and set aside. Once the broth has cooled down, skim off any residue or chicken fat that has risen to the surface of the broth. At this point also, you can sieve the broth if you want it to be clear, otherwise if you're happy to have the celery and mushroom pieces in it, leave as it is. 

For the Pickled Channel Wrack:

Soak the fresh channel wrack in fresh water and in the meantime boil the kettle. After a few minutes, drain the channel wrack and put it in a heat safe container/pot and pour the boiled water on top and leave to blanch for a few minutes. Drain the blanched channel wrack and refresh with cold water.

In a bowl, add the cold blanched channel wrack and mix in with the chopped garlic clove and thumb of ginger. Add the sesame oil, tamari sauce, rice wine vinegar and honey/mirin and the optional teaspoon of whiskey to taste. 

For the crispy Kelp:

In a hot frying pan add a dash of oil (not too much or the Kelp will be soggy) and allow to heat up. Pat the leftover Kelp strand dry and add to the frying pan. Once the Kelp is crispy on both sides, remove from the pan and leave to rest on a tea towel or paper towel.

To Serve:

If serving with noodles, add the cooked noodles to your bowl and pour the heated broth on top. Add some chopped spring onion and cashew nuts to taste, before topping off with the pickled Channel Wrack and crispy Kelp. Bon Appetit!