FEATURE // Master stock
Taking
stock
Master stock is nothing short of ubiquitous in Chinese cookery. WORDS Annabelle Cloros
ACCORDING TO HERESY, some master stocks are more than a century old. You might take that with a grain of salt (or a splash of soy), but there’s no question master stock is a foundational part of Chinese cuisine, specifically Fujian and Cantonese cookery.
The stock comprises just a handful of elements: water, soy, sugar,
cooking wine, aromatics and a protein. The idea is to continually add
to it as it depletes, resulting in a complex flavour profile that’s hard to pinpoint — and that’s part of what makes it so great.
Hospitality speaks to Lotus Dining Group Head Chef Steve Wu and
Mongkok Tea House Head Chef Jack Tsai about starting a master stock from scratch and why the process is a choose-your-own adventure.
Steve Wu learned how to make master stock from an all-time great
— his mum. “Every family in China and Taiwan have their own secret recipe,” says the chef. “Master stock means stock with a meat flavour.
It plays an important role in Chinese cuisine — we cook quite a lot of
things with it; mainly pork and sometimes beef. It’s very well received by Chinese people because it’s soy-based and they like soy-based dishes.” Wu calls on his closely guarded home recipe when building master
stocks for Lotus Dining Group’s restaurants across Sydney, with the
chef going heavy on spring onion and ginger to start the process. “It’s a
combination of soy sauce, spices and herbs,” he says. “We put star anise, cassia bark and coriander seeds as well. Some restaurants use whole coriander to increase the flavour.”
Pork is a key component in the embryonic stages of making Wu’s master
stock, with the chef opting to use the belly cut. “It has high fat and gelatin, 52 | Hospitality
