China · Chinese
Santao three-set broth
Chicken, duck and pork knuckle go into the pot over three rounds to draw out savouriness, then the broth is clarified with minced chicken thigh and breast (“red” and “white” lees) to a limpid clarity — the base behind Kongfu cooking’s light, fresh character. This is a shortened home version and is not equivalent to the original six hours of simmering.
Public reference · Home adaptation The “set” in “three-set” means a rotation of whole sets: three portions each of chicken, duck and pork knuckle go in over three rounds, each drawn and then replaced, so the broth stacks all three rather than tasting of any single ingredient. The minced chicken used to clarify comes in two forms — hongqiao from thigh, baiqiao from breast — because the thigh mince is pink and the breast mince white, and clearing with both in turn gives limpid clarity. Kongfu cooking describes itself as light, fresh, tender, mellow and true to the raw flavour, and this broth is where that claim lives; many Kong dishes are seasoned with it. Only the technique is used here, not any health claims from the source material. **Important**: the original uses three fat ducks, three fat chickens and three pork knuckles (about 13 kg in total) with pork leg bones, simmered three rounds of 2 hours each — six hours in all. That is not practical at home. This version cuts the quantity by roughly 8× (one chicken, one duck, an 800 g knuckle, 1 kg leg bones) and shortens each round to about 50 minutes, three hours in total. **This is therefore not the original broth**: round length governs body and roundness, so the home version reads lighter and fresher rather than deep and mellow, and this is stated plainly. The minced thigh and breast are scaled to 200 g each. All three rounds are required — reducing to one round would no longer be “three-set”. All weights and times are editorial and untested. Contains poultry and pork, with peppercorn as seasoning. The whole chicken, duck and knuckle must be thoroughly cooked to a centre temperature of 74°C or above. 搜狗百科：孔府菜烹饪技艺 — The full formula and method: three ducks, three chickens, three knuckles, 500 g each of minced thigh and breast, and leg bones; thigh mince loosened with water as hongqiao and breast mince as baiqiao; three rounds of 2 hours each with the fat skimmed after every round; finally the broth clarified first with hongqiao then baiqiao, heat dropped as it approaches boiling so it never rolls, flakes lifted with a fine skimmer. This is the source of the process used here. https://baike.sogou.com/v11041191.htm 百度百科：寿字鸭羹 — An example of san tao being used as the seasoning base in Kong cooking, and the summary that it is built from equal thirds of chicken, duck and pork knuckle, cooked three times and clarified with red and white minced chicken, aiming for a clear, mellow broth. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BF%E5%AD%97%E9%B8%AD%E7%BE%B9 FoodSafety.gov: Safe Minimum Internal Temperature — ≥74°C centre temperature for poultry and pork, so all the meat used across the three rounds is cooked thoroughly. https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/safe-minimum-internal-temperatures AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.
Ingredients
- fatty chicken, about 1.3 kg1300 g
- fatty duck, about 1.5 kg1500 g
- pork knuckle, about 800 g800 g
- pork leg bones1000 g
- chicken thigh meat, minced for hongqiao200 g
- chicken breast, minced for baiqiao200 g
- water5000 ml
- scallion30 g
- ginger30 g
- Sichuan peppercorns5 g
Directions
- 1
Pluck the chicken and duck and scrape the knuckle clean, remove the birds’ innards and rinse all three. Blanch everything in boiling water to shed the blood, then rinse clean.
- 2
Take a large stockpot (6 litres or more), add 5 litres of water, the leg bones, scallion, ginger and peppercorns.
- 3
**Round one**: add the whole chicken, duck and knuckle, bring to the boil, skim the foam thoroughly, then simmer gently about 50 minutes.
- 4
Lift out all the meat, skim the fat from the surface and keep the liquid. Top up with fresh water to about 5 litres and repeat.
- 5
**Round two**: add the second round of chicken, duck and knuckle, bring to the boil, skim, and simmer about 50 minutes.
- 6
Lift out the meat again and skim the fat, keeping the liquid. Top up with fresh water and, for **round three**, add the third round of chicken, duck and knuckle and simmer about 50 minutes.
- 7
When the third round is done, lift out everything and skim the fat again; let the broth stand about 10 minutes to settle.
- 8
Mince the chicken thigh finely, loosen with water and a little salt to a thin paste — hongqiao. Do the same with the breast — baiqiao. Keep them separate.
- 9
Reheat the broth until it is about to boil — do not let it roll. Pour in the hongqiao and stir constantly with a ladle; the instant it approaches boiling, drop the heat at once. It must never boil.
- 10
The mince rises as fine flakes; lift them all off with a fine skimmer, let the broth settle, then pour it off carefully without disturbing the sediment.
- 11
Reheat the broth to just below boiling and clarify a second time with the baiqiao, skimming off every flake. What remains is the santao broth.
- 12
Skim off the last of the fat and pass the broth through a fine skimmer once. It can be served as a clear soup or kept as the seasoning base for Kong-style dishes, poured over soups and braises.
Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.