Homemade Unorthodox Stock

Before
Originally uploaded by whatstepheats

What I Did Yesterday With All My Freezer Bones

Yesterday I made stock from all the bones in the freezer. They were starting to scare my boyfriend, with whom I happily cohabitate. I can't say that I blame him - he knows I'm not normal, but all those baggies of bones can raise the question of just how far off the beaten path I've gone.

Plus, it was deceiving. The freezer looked full, but it wasn't exactly full of things to thaw for dinner!

Genesis of My Decision to Save Bones in the Freezer

Over the past year or so, I started saving chicken bones in a freezer bag until there were enough to boil away for a few hours with some herbs, garlic, and onion ends (and carrots and celery if they are on hand). The results are amazing - far and above any of that canned, cubed, or boxed crap they sell on supermarket shelves. It's true what has been widely said in the 'foodie' community: water is better than store-bought imitation stock.

What I Did Differently This Time in My Stock-making

This time, I did something quite unorthodox. On a rather recent trip to Hong Meas, a Cambodian-influenced pan-Asian restaurant in East Providence which I frequent and love (and about which I've written before http://whatstepheats.blogspot.com/2008/10/hong-meas-combination-rice-noodle-soup_25.html), the lovely owner Sofia told me a secret of her magic broth. She uses not only chicken bones, but a combination of whatever meat bones she has on hand, which mostly includes pork.

This caused me to start saving pork bones from all the takeout bbq ribs we've been eating from United BBQ, which opened a couple of months ago and now delivers.

I understood the risks involved. This method could have made a stock that tasted like bbq, which obviously would not be good!

Results of My Unorthodox Stock-making Approach

But that didn't happen. What did happen was something wonderful, and something I would definitely do again. I think it's important for the chicken bones to outnumber the pork rib bones, and in this instance I felt some brightening was called for, which came in the form of fresh cilantro (mostly stems).

It can definitely be argued that I am certifiably nuts, but what cannot be argued is the quality of my stock results. I only wish I had as much command over the stock market as I do the stock pot!

Hong Meas Combination Rice Noodle Soup

Combination Rice Noodle Soup
Originally uploaded by whatstepheats

I really love this dish here! It's not quite pho as the owner, Sophia (an Anglicized version of her real name, but I'll get that straight one of these days) is from Cambodia (via New Zealand!) and thinks that the typical Vietnamese noodle soup has too many strong flavors going on.

This is a simpler broth, though simmered with chicken and pork bones for 8 hours. Despite the inclusion of imitation crabmeat - among the rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, beef, and sometimes pork, scallops and squid - this combination rice noodle soup has become a front-line favorite.

In fact, the whole experience of driving over the bridge to East Providence [Washington, or sometimes Henderson ('Red') - gotta mix it up!] and sitting down to this big steaming bowl has become a comfort ritual.

Plus, Sophia is a hoot! She's so gracious, accomodating, funny, and sweet to all her customers. So down to earth, she frequently tells me to relax and go home to have sex with my boyfriend! She is a beautiful woman with a lively and free spirit. Though the restaurant is very casual - comfortably divey, kind of red, and sparsely kitschy - it serves some of my favorite Asian food in the Providence area.

So many factors converge to make a dining establishment a regular destination for me. It's not just what I stab with a fork or pinch with a set of chopsticks. It's not the threadcount of the tablecloths or how comfy my ass is in the booth. Rather, it's the depth and richness of the whole dining experience - the humanity, the thread that runs through our common need to feed ourselves, to sit around a table and fill up with so much more than what goes into our mouths.
That is harder to come by, and worth seeking out. When I find it, I hold it close.

An example of that sitting-'round-the-table-family-is-the-glue-that-keeps-you-from-disintigrating-in-life thing, which I felt privileged to witness, occurred on Labor Day, in the late afternoon. I wandered in for my bowl of soup and saw a long table set in the middle of the restaurant. It was set with stand-alone burners and plates of uncooked meat, seafood, and vegetables - even beautiful watercress! Clearly this was to be a hotpot extravaganza. Family and friends straggled in - some bearing gifts, all speaking in language unfamiliar to my ugly-American ears - and I at once felt like an honored guest and an intruder.
When Sophia's beautiful daughter (who I thought was her sister at first!) brought me my check, I asked if it was a holiday party. She said that yes, it was a good chance for the family to get together, Labor Day being notoriously slow. On my way out I said to Sophia, "Watercress?". She said yes, call a day ahead and she'd get it for me...and my boyfriend!

I've been eating at Hong Meas steadily for at least 7 years. So much has changed in my life during that time, but this place, like other things that continue to provide me comfort, has remained a constant.

Hong Meas Restaurant
332 Warren Avenue
East Providence, RI 02914
(401) 438-5227