Sam Low's chicken broth

MasterChef NZ 2022 winner, Cookbook author, and Instagram star, Sam Low made headlines this week for hosting a dinner party at his Auckland home for comedian/actress, Ali Wong, and her family while they visited New Zealand. 

Sam served a wholesome homecooked feast – inspired by his love of modern Chinese cooking.  

And he’s here to answer your cooking questions and share his recipe for Chicken bone broth (the one he served Ali Wong). 

Supreme Chicken Master Broth

Source: 'Modern Chinese' cookbook by Sam Low.

This broth is really complex with rich umami flavours, the caramelisation of the roasted chicken and sweet savoury flavours of the dried scallops is what makes it so special. I love serving boiled wontons in this broth to make a really complex wonton soup, over blanched vegetables or add your favourite noodles to make an incredible chicken and noodle soup.

3-4 litre water
3 tbsp oil
800g chicken carcusses (chicken frames)
500g chicken wings
30g ginger (sliced)
6 cloves garlic (smacked)
4 sprig spring onion (cut into thirds)
¼ tsp white pepper
1 ½ tbsp salt (to taste)
40g dried scallop
3 tbsp dried goji berries


Preheat the oven to 220C.
In a large bowl mix the oil, chicken, seasoning, ginger, garlic and spring onion together and lay evenly in a large baking tray dish. Roast the chicken until golden brown for about 30 min, shaking and flipping the pieces of chicken around 20 min into the roast for even browning.

In a large pot with water over high heat, add in the roasted chicken (including the juices) and all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a gentle boil and turn down the heat to a low gentle simmer, skimming any impurities on the surface of the broth during the cook. Simmer for around 80 min or until it tastes rich and complex. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

If storing for future use, strain the broth into containers to freeze.

*you may substitute dried scallops for dried prawns to maintain that complex seafood flavour in the broth*

The Lowdown: Roast the chicken and aromatics in the oven. Simmer the roasted chicken with water and aromatics for 60-80 min.