I can’t recommend getting into the habit of making your own chicken stock enough. It’s just so versatile: you can freeze it to use in sauces, risottos, stews or soups, or keep a jug of it in the fridge in the winter months ready to make impromptu broths with glass noodles, grated ginger, spring onion, chilli and poached chicken. It can be a real game-changer to have good stock in the fridge for making speedy, warming, immune-system boosting soup or stew. Use this recipe as a base and add aromatics of your choice to customise it; I like experimenting with Asian flavours like star anise, ginger and lemongrass. I use a whole bird to make my stock, which might seem a bit lavish, but it’s something favoured by two of my food heroes, Uyen Luu and Alice Waters, and it really makes for a flavour- and goodness-packed stock. Plus, you end up with fantastic poached chicken, to shred into salads, pies or serve with rice or veg. Use the best chicken you can find – I find that corn-fed ones have more flavour.