Chinese Herbal Bone Broth: A Slow-Cooked Wellness Recipe
Bone broth has gone from grandmother's kitchen staple to one of the most talked-about foods in modern wellness, and for once, the trend and the tradition agree. Long before it filled flasks in gym bags, slow-simmered bone broth was a cornerstone of Chinese home cooking, where it was rarely made plain. A handful of dried herbs went into the pot as standard, turning a simple stock into something deeper, more fragrant, and more interesting. This is how to make that version: a proper Chinese herbal bone broth, slow-cooked from scratch.
Why Bone Broth Rewards Patience
Bone broth differs from ordinary stock in one main way: time. Where a stock simmers for a couple of hours, bone broth cooks low and slow for twelve hours or more. That long simmer draws collagen out of the bones and connective tissue, which is what gives a good bone broth its rich body and its signature wobble when chilled. The flavour deepens in parallel, moving from thin and watery in the early hours to full and rounded by the end.
It's not labour-intensive, almost all of that time is completely hands-off, but it does reward planning. Most people make it overnight or across a lazy weekend day, and a slow cooker makes the whole thing effortless.
The Chinese Difference: Herbs in the Pot
What separates a Chinese herbal bone broth from the Western version is the cupboard that gets opened halfway through. Alongside the usual aromatics, a small set of dried herbs goes into the pot, each earning its place over generations of home cooking.
Dried Astragalus Root (Huang Qi) is the quiet foundation, flat woody slices that give the broth the savoury depth of something cooked far longer than it was. It's probably the single most common herb in Chinese soup-making.
Dried Jujube Dates (Hong Zao) mellow the broth and add a gentle background sweetness that balances the richness of the bones. Six or so is plenty.
Dried Chinese Yam (Shan Yao) slowly dissolves its starch into the liquid, adding body of its own alongside the collagen.
Dried Goji Berries, added right at the end, finish the broth with colour and a light tartness that lifts all that richness.
Fresh ginger, spring onion, and a splash of rice wine or cider vinegar complete the pot. The vinegar isn't for flavour, a small acidic nudge is traditionally used to help coax more from the bones during the long simmer.
The Recipe
For a large pot: around 1.5kg of bones (chicken carcasses and wings, or pork or beef bones, ask your butcher), a thumb of ginger, sliced, 3 spring onions, 2 tablespoons of rice wine or 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar, 4 to 5 slices of Astragalus, 6 Jujube Dates, 4 to 5 slices of Chinese Yam, a small handful of Goji Berries, and enough cold water to cover everything by a few centimetres, roughly 3 litres.
Start by blanching the bones: cover them with cold water, bring to a rolling boil for five minutes, then drain and rinse. This step, standard in Chinese kitchens, removes the impurities that would otherwise turn the broth cloudy and murky-tasting. Roasting the bones first in a hot oven for half an hour is an optional extra that adds a deeper, browner flavour, common with beef, less so with chicken.
Return the bones to a clean pot with the fresh water, ginger, spring onion, and vinegar or wine. Bring to a bare simmer, skim any foam in the first hour, then leave it barely bubbling, lid ajar. After the halfway point, add the Astragalus, Jujube Dates, and Chinese Yam. Herbs added too early can turn bitter over a very long cook, so the second half is their moment.
Chicken bones want 8 to 12 hours in total; pork and beef reward 12 to 24. In a slow cooker, simply set it to low and let it run, the same timings apply. In the final ten minutes, stir in the Goji Berries. Strain the finished broth, season with salt only at the end, and it's done.
Storing and Using It
The broth keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge, where it should set to a soft jelly, the sign of a job well done, and it freezes beautifully for months. Freezing it in ice cube trays gives you instant flavour bombs for weeknight cooking.
Drink it as it is in a mug, the wellness-trend way, or put it to work: as the base for noodle soups and congee, for cooking rice, in stews, or as the foundation of the herbal hot pot base we covered recently, where it takes the whole pot up a level.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which bones make the best broth?
Chicken carcasses, wings and feet give the most gelatinous result for the least cooking time. Beef and pork bones bring deeper flavour but want a longer simmer. Mixing is fine.
Why didn't my broth turn to jelly in the fridge?
Usually too much water for the amount of bones, or not enough collagen-rich pieces. It's still perfectly good broth, just add wings or feet next time.
Can I make it in a pressure cooker?
Yes, around 3 hours at high pressure gets close to a long-simmered result. Add the herbs for a 30 minute simmer afterwards rather than pressure-cooking them.
When do the herbs go in?
From the halfway point of the cook, with Goji Berries in the final ten minutes only. Very long cooking can turn the herbs bitter.
Is herbal bone broth drunk on its own?
Yes, a warm mug of it is traditional and very much part of the modern trend too. It's equally at home as a cooking base for soups, congee and stews.
Every herb in this recipe is in our DaoDi culinary herbs collection. One slow weekend pot, and your freezer is stocked for a month of better cooking.
Food supplements and culinary herbs should not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet. This article is for general information only and is not intended as medical advice.