Master Stock

By Cheong Liew

Ingredients

1 liter    Water

100g     Rock sugar

10g      Star Anise, whole

10g       Cinnamon stick

5g        Cumin seeds

20g        Ginger, bruised

10g       Mandarin peel, dried (presoaked)

5g        Szechuan pepper

20g       Licorice Roots, dried

60 ml    Dark soy

60ml    White rice wine or Grappa

60 ml     Superior light soy

1 stalks  Green (spring) onion

Method

Put all ingredients into a heavy-bottom stockpot except rock candy sugar. Simmer for 20 minutes on its own, then add your main item to be poached (e.g. pork, duck, chicken, quail, etc.) and then add rock sugar 20 minutes before finish. When main item is cooked, remove meat and either let stock cool and freeze it and reuse it (always boiling it first) or in a restaurant situation keep on simmer all the time and continue using is.