My Chouchoux: Instant Pot Vegetable Broth 蔬菜高湯［電子壓力鍋版］

I don't know why I never shared this recipe with you before, but vegetable broth is one of the things I make at home all the time, and it's also something I prefer homemade. It's not just easy to make, but the great thing is that it'll help you to put those leftover ingredients or vegetable scraps to good use -- like kale or mushrooms stems, green leek tops, the trimmings of cauliflower, broccoli, celery, carrots, or onions, etc. I'm always trying to find ways to use the entire vegetable as much as possible without letting it go to waste. You'd be surprised how much flavour they can add to the broth!

For this recipe, I used an Instant Pot, but I'll also include the stove top method below the recipe just in case you don't have one. Don't feel that you absolutely have to follow the recipe. If you have more onions but less carrots, no worry, just change the proportion, leave out or substitute some of the ingredients. The recipe is just a guideline. I really encourage you to try out different vegetables and herbs. Your common sense will help you decide what to use depending on the kind of soup that you're going to make. For example, If you're making a white soup, use fewer dark coloured vegetables, like the green part of the leek, or If you're making an Asian soup, you could add some ginger and a little bit of dried shiitake mushroom stems as well. Don't let your vegetable scraps go to waste, and stop spending your money on store-bought broth when you can easily make it yourself and it practically costs nothing!

蔬菜高湯是我平時在家幾乎每星期都會做的食物之一。現在市面上雖有濃縮的高湯粉和一盒ㄧ盒現成的高湯，但我還是喜歡堅持自己煮。它不只做起來簡單，還可以將平時常被我們丟棄的蔬菜皮屑加以利用，例如大蒜或蔥深綠色的部分、洋蔥、芹菜與紅蘿蔔的頭尾部分等，將它們洗淨後其實都可以拿來用。這個食譜的另一個好處是：我是以電子壓力鍋 (Instant Pot) 煮的，很適合現代人忙碌的生活。不過如果沒有電子壓力鍋也沒關係，我另外附上了ㄧ般電爐/火爐的煮法。我也鼓勵大家隨意使用自己喜歡的蔬菜或香草，食譜只是個概念，不ㄧ定要完全照食譜上的食材或份量份量，比如多ㄧ點紅蘿蔔，少ㄧ點洋蔥也無所謂的，希望大家多利用完整的蔬菜來燒菜，不但節省開支、對身體也有益處喔~

Instant Pot Vegetable Broth (yields about 2 qt)

2 T your choice of cooking oil

1 large onion

1 leek, cleaned - just the green part (save the white part for another use)

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

3 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 small handful of herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, or dill are all good!)

2 bay leaves

3/4 t black peppercorns

3-4 C your choice of vegetable scraps, such as the trimmings of onions, carrots, celery, rutabaga, mushrooms, squash, green beans, kale and broccoli, etc. (If you don't have any scraps, just increase the amount of vegetables above)

1/4 t turmeric powder

10 C filtered water

*T= tablespoon, t = teaspoon, C = cup

1. Cut the onions, leek, carrots, celery and all the other vegetable scraps into about 1" pieces (no need to peel or remove the skins). A few minutes before you're done cutting, press Sauté mode and adjust the temperature to high.

2. Pour in the oil and sauté and brown the onion, leek, and garlic together for about 5 minutes. Turn off the Sauté mode.

3. Press Manual and set it for 20 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and the water.

4. When it beeps and is done cooking, turn it off and let the pressure naturally release.

5. Strain the broth through a fine colander and store it in clean glass jars.

To store: You can either store it in the fridge for 4-5 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Stovetop Method:

1. Cut your vegetables (see procedure 1 above).

2. In a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté and brown the onion, leek, and garlic together for 5 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and the water. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. When it comes to a boil, cover and turn down the heat to low. Let it simmer for one hour.

4. See procedure 5 above to finish the broth.

- Yvonne

蔬菜高湯 ［電子壓力鍋版］

油 2 大匙

洋蔥 1 大顆

大蒜 (深綠色部分) 1 支，洗淨

蒜頭 3 粒，拍扁

紅蘿蔔 3 根，不需要削皮

芹菜 2 支

巴西里、西洋芹、百里香、迷迭香或蒔蘿 (或混合) 1 小把

月桂葉 2 片

黑胡椒粒 3/4 小匙

蔬菜皮屑，如洋蔥、紅蘿蔔、芹菜、蘑菇、羽衣甘藍或綠椰菜切除的部分 3-4 杯 (若是沒有任何的蔬菜皮屑，請增加以上蔬菜的份量)

薑黃粉 1/4 小匙

水 10 杯

1. 將所有蔬菜切成約 2.5 cm/1 inch 塊狀，然後將電子壓力鍋開啟，使用煎/炒功能，以高溫加熱。

2. 倒入油，將洋蔥、大蒜與蒜頭炒香至金黃，約5分鐘。

3. 加入剩餘的材料與水，然後將電子壓力鍋切換為手動功能，並設定為20分鐘。

4. 煮好後關機，待電鍋自然洩壓後小心打開鍋蓋。

5. 瀝掉所有的食材，倒入乾淨的玻璃瓶中保存。

儲存方式：
冰藏：4-5天。
冷凍：3個月。

ㄧ般做法：

1. 將所有蔬菜切成2.5 cm/1 inch 塊狀。

2. 在ㄧ個大鍋子內，將油以中火加熱，放入洋裝、大蒜與蒜頭炒約5分鐘至上色。

3. 加入剩餘的食材與水以大火煮開，然後蓋上鍋蓋以小火慢慢煮ㄧ個小時。

4. 煮好後瀝掉所有的食材，倒入玻璃瓶中保存。

- Yvonne