Pork Bone Stock (猪骨汤底)

Clean the pork neck bones by running them under cold water to remove any visible blood.

Add all the neck bones into the pot. Then add cold water. The water level should be 1 inch above the bones. Close the lid.

Heat the pot under medium-high. When the water starts boiling (about 10-15 minutes), uncover and use a mini strainer to remove all the scum and coagulated blood. Continue to boil under medium-high for 5 minutes uncovered and keep removing the scum as it forms.

After 5 minutes of boiling, remove the pot from the stove. Take all the neck bones out and dump the rest of the liquid. Rinse each neck bone under cold water to further clean the bones. Then clean the pot to make sure no scum is left inside the pot.

Put all the neck bones back into the pot and fill the water almost all the way up. Close the lid and turn the heat to medium high. When the water starts boiling again (about 15-20 minutes), skim off the remaining scum (there should be little left). Then turn the heat to medium-low or low (depending on your stove) to produce a low rolling boil.2 Cover and set a timer to 1.5 hours.

Occasionally open the lid to check the state of the stock, ensuring that a constant low rolling boil is maintained at all times. After about 1.5 hours, a milky opaque color should be achieved.

Turn off the heat. Uncover and let the stock cool before storing it in the fridge. The meat on the neck bones should be soft and easily fall off the bones. The stock along with the meat will be good for a week in the refrigerator.

If using the stock right away, no need to cool. I will add some recipes using this stock in the coming weeks.