EAST x WEST BONE BROTH

Recipe: Healthy BONE BROTH

Growing up in Hong Kong, a broth made with bones, culinary Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs were a must. It's umami, warm, made with love from the family matriarch, and super comforting. My grandmother's love was expressed through the care and meticulous attention in the broth that she made for us most days of the week.

Now as a certified Holistic Nutritionist, I learned the techniques of western style bone broth, extracting minerals and collagen for an ultimate nutrition and gut health hack. However, this often lack the umami and depth the Chinese broth brings. So I mixed the two. Find out more below.

Ingredients and alternatives:

Use only organic or truly pasture-raised bones: This bone broth is only as healthy as the animals were. Organic / pasture-raised animals lived a more natural life, with a diet that they were meant to have (instead of GMO grains).

Pork or Chicken: This is entirely up to you, the flavours and nutrition profile differ slightly. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, chicken is slightly on the warm side, so adding pork bones helps to neutralise and bring more balance.

Apple Cider Vinegar: The acetic acid helps to draw out minerals. For the best nutrition benefits, don't skip this step!

Chicken Feet: A delight for many in Asian cultures, they are full of cartilage, and when slow cooked, this collagen is released, creating a jelly texture when refridgerated. This gives an incredibly rich and comforting mouth feel to the broth.

Vegetables: Adding vegetables is from the western technique, they add a sweeter flavour (use sweet vegetables like onions, carrot, corn), and provides extra minerals and antioxidants. Never a bad idea to add, but also entirely up to you.

TCM Culinary Herbs: I add these on the regular to save time on having to make a separate broth to reap their nutritional benefits. The herbs I named in the recipes support balancing of our qi, digestive system, and strengthens the immune system.

Kombu & Coriander Roots: Again, extra nutrients, extra flavour, but if you don't have them, you will still make a nutritious bone broth. Feel free to omit.

Solid Healthy Fats: After refridgerating overnight, a layer of fat will solidify on the top, remove it and set aside. As long as the bones came from healthy organic or pasture-raised, this healthy fat is great for flavoursome high-heat cooking. Keep in the fridge for use up to 3 months.

Benefit of drinking bone broth

Bone broth offers a range of nutritional and functional health benefits, especially when made slowly with high-quality bones and ingredients. Here's a breakdown of its key benefits:

1. Supports Gut Health

• Rich in gelatin and collagen, which help restore the gut lining and support digestive health.

• Contains amino acids like glutamine that can reduce inflammation in the gut—helpful for those with leaky gut, IBS, or other digestive issues.

2. Improves Joint & Bone Health

• Provides collagen, glucosamine, chondroitin, and calcium, which help support joints, reduce stiffness, and maintain bone density.

• Ideal for aging individuals, athletes, or those recovering from injuries.

3. Strengthens Skin, Hair & Nails

• High in type I and III collagen, which improves skin elasticity, reduces wrinkles, and strengthens nails and hair.

• Helps skin maintain hydration and bounce.

4. Boosts Immunity

• Amino acids like arginine, cysteine, and glutamine help modulate the immune response.

• Supports the production of white blood cells and the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), crucial for immune function.

5. Helps Detoxification

• Glycine and potassium support the liver’s natural detox pathways.

• A gentle, nourishing food during a detox or cleanse.

6. Supports Sleep & Mood

• Glycine in bone broth has been shown to promote calmness, better sleep quality, and may support brain health.

7. Easy to Digest, Nutrient-Dense

• Gentle on digestion, making it ideal for people who are ill, recovering from surgery, or struggling to absorb nutrients.

• Delivers bioavailable minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium in an easily absorbable format.

Prep Time: 10 mins    Cook Time: 7 hours (soaking and simmering)

Yield: 7-8 cups broth

Ingredients

• 2 Organic or pasture-raised chicken carcasses

• 500 g. Organic or pasture-raised pork soup bones (can omit if avoiding pork) 

• 150 g. Organic or pasture-raised chicken feet

• 1 Tbsp Raw apple cider vinegar with the 'mother’ 

• ~ 2 L. Filtered water

• Up to 10 pcs. of Coriander roots (soil scrubbed off) 

• 1 5-inch piece of Kombu 

Optional aromatic ingredients

• 250 g. Vegetables or scraps (such as carrots, corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, onion and garlic peels)

• 2 Bay leaves

• 100 g. Mushroom stems

Optional culinary TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) ingredients 

• 5 g. Dry Chinese yam 

• 5 g. Dry astragalus 

• 3-6 Pcs. of Dry shiitakes 

• 5 g. Dry fox nuts 

• 5-6 Pcs. of Dry scallops

Direction

1. Clean bones thoroughly, trim off fat. 

2. Combine  bones with filtered water in a pot until bones are fully submerged.

3. Add apple cider vinegar and let soak for 1hour.

4. If using fresh vegetables, rinse and scrub off any dirt, cut into large chunks.

5. Add chicken feet, and optional aromatic and optional TCM ingredients (if using), and bring to a boil. 

6. Lower heat to the lowest simmer possible, add kombu.

7. Simmer  for 3-6 hours, the longer the better. 

8. Once it has reached desired flavour, turn off heat and drain into a large mixing bowl, and discard inedible solids. You may keep the parts that you want to eat. 

9. Once the drained bone broth is cooled, store in a jar in the fridge overnight or until the top layer of fat is solidified.

10. Remove fat and store separately for cooking.

11. The bone broth should be of a jelly texture, keep in the fridge to consume over the week, or could be portioned for freezing.

12. Store up to 2 months in the freezer, if it lasts that long!

13. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)

Nutrient	Amount	% Daily Value*
Calories	96.3 kcal	5%
Total Fat	3.3 g	5%
└ Saturated Fat	0.8 g	4%
└ Trans Fat	0.1 g	—
Cholesterol	18 mg	6%
Sodium	50 mg	3%
Total Carbohydrate	2.9 g	1%
└ Dietary Fiber	0.6 g	2%
└ Sugars	1.2 g	—
Protein	13.8 g	28%
Calcium	—	4%
Iron	—	1%
Vitamin C	—	1%
Vitamin A	—	0%

*Based on a 2,000-calorie daily intake.