This recipe is from the book “The Cancer Fighting Kitchen” by Rebecca Katz. I highly recommend her book and her website especially if you have a dear one diagnosed with cancer or if you are interested in learning what foods have cancer fighting agents. Her recipes are deeply nourishing, easily digestible, and very versatile.
I was very skeptical about making this particular broth, I always thought a good hearty broth ought to have some chicken or beef in it. But this recipe took me by surprise. The sweetness of the yams, sweet potatoes, and carrots in combination with the kombu, a seaweed full of minerals and fiber, make this broth extremely delicious. In fact I prefer drinking it while I am at work rather than a regular chicken broth because it is tasty even when it gets cold. I made quite a bit of it last time and shared it with at least six different people who all enjoyed it very much.
So if you are in the mood for broth, or you are feeling sick, or you just don’t like chicken or beef broth this is a great alternative. A word of caution: I don’t fill the pot with as much water as is recommended. It gets too watery for my taste. I would fill the pot with water up to 4 to 5 inches below the rim, rather than 2 as she recommends. I posted the recipe here with the slight adjustment in the water quantity, but you could also just let it simmer down for longer and let more water evaporate according to your taste. This is the kind of stock you can taste and adjust it according to your preferences.
6 unpeeled carrots, cut into thirds.
2 unpeeled yellow onions, cut into chunks
1 leek, white and green parts, cut into chunks,
1 bunch celery, including heart, cut into chunks
4 unpeeled red potatoes, quartered
2 Japanese or regular sweet potatoes, quartered
1 unpeeled garnet yam, quartered
5 unpeeled cloves of garlic, halved
1/2 a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
18 inch strip of kombu
12 black peppercorns
4 all spice or juniper berries
2 bay leaves
7 quarts of cold, unfiltered water
1 teaspoon sea salt
Rinse all the vegetables well including the kombu. In a 12 quart or larger stockpot, combine the carrots, onions, leek, celery, potatoes, yam, garlic, parsley, kombu, peppercorns, all spice berries and bay leaves. Fill the pot with the water to 5 inches the rim, cover and bring to a boil.
Remove the lid, decrease the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for at least two hours. As the broth simmers, some water will evaporate; maybe add more if the vegetables start to peek out. Simmer until the full richness of the vegetables can be tasted. Yumm!
Strain the broth through a large, coarse, mesh-sieve, then add salt to taste. This broth will store well in the fridge for up to seven days and in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook: 2 to 4 hours
Makes: 6 quarts