Chicken Paitan Broth in 90 Minutes

Chicken paitan is the most useful ramen broth for a Hong Kong kitchen: wet-market chicken carcasses and feet, a pressure cooker, a hard boil at the end, and you have a creamy white soup that passes for a restaurant tori paitan. It is faster, cheaper and far less pungent than tonkotsu, and it avoids pork.

Cooking hub: How to Make Ramen at Home in a Hong Kong Kitchen. Components: Anatomy of a Ramen Bowl. Site hub: Ramen in Hong Kong: The Complete Local Guide.

Makes about 1.5 litres (4 bowls). Time about 90 minutes. Equipment: 6-litre pressure cooker, fine strainer, optionally a stick blender. Shopping: 1 kg chicken carcasses or backs, 500 g chicken feet, 300 g wings, onion, garlic, ginger, spring onion.

🛒 1. Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken carcasses or backs (ask the wet-market stall)
• 500 g chicken feet (gelatin)
• 300 g chicken wings (fat and flavour)
• 1 onion, halved; 1 head garlic, halved; 5 cm ginger
• 2 spring onions
• 2.2 litres water

🔥 2. Method

1. Blanch all chicken in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and rinse.
2. Pressure-cook with aromatics and water on high for 45 minutes; natural release.
3. Remove the lid, crush the softened bones with a spoon, and boil hard uncovered for 15–20 minutes until the liquid is opaque and slightly reduced. For extra creaminess, pulse briefly with a stick blender (carefully — hot liquid) before straining.
4. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the solids. Do not skim the fat.
5. Season in the bowl with shio tare (about 30 ml per 350 ml broth) and a teaspoon of chicken fat; see shio and shoyu tare recipes.

🍜 3. Building the bowl

Thin or medium noodles, chicken chashu or poached breast, soft egg, menma, spring onion and a little black pepper or yuzu peel; the style is in chicken paitan ramen and the pork comparison in tonkotsu versus chicken paitan.

🧊 4. Storage and variations

Keeps three days refrigerated or freezes flat (freezing ramen broth). Add sesame paste and chilli oil for a quick tantanmen, or miso tare for a creamy miso bowl (miso ramen recipe).

Cool it fast. Chicken broth is a good bacterial medium; chill in an ice bath and refrigerate within two hours, reheat to a full boil, and never leave it warm on the hob. See ramen food safety.

❓ FAQ

Why is it not white? Boil harder and longer at the end, uncovered, and include feet or wings for collagen.

Can I do it without a pressure cooker? Yes: simmer 3–4 hours, then hard-boil 30 minutes.

Is it halal? The broth can be, if the chicken is halal and the tare has no alcohol; see halal-friendly ramen.