Chinese Recipes | Cooking Tips | Good Eats

In order that soup-making processes may be readily grasped, one should be thoroughly familiar with what is meant by stock which forms the foundation of many soups.

A stock of anything means a reserve supply of that thing stored away for future use. When applied to soup, stock is similar in meaning for it refers to material stored or prepared in such a way that it may be kept for use in the making of certain kinds of soup. In a more definite sense, soup-stock may be regarded as a liquid containing the juices and soluble parts of meat, bone or vegetables which have been extracted by long, slow cooking.

Soups in which stock is utilized include all the varieties made from beef, veal, mutton and poultry. If clear stock is desired for the making of soup, only fresh meat and bones should be used and all material that will discolor the liquid in any way carefully avoided. For ordinary, unclarified soups, the trimmings and bones of roast, steak or chops and the carcass of fowl can generally be utilized. However, very strongly flavored meat such as mutton or the fat from mutton should be used sparingly.

Varieties Of Stock

Several kinds of stock are utilized in the making of soup, and the kind to employ depends on the soup desired. The following classification will be a guide in determining the kind of stock required for the foundation of a soup.

FIRST STOCK is made from meat and bones and then clarified and used for well-flavored, clear soups.

SECOND STOCK is made from the meat and the bones that remain after the first stock is strained off. More water is added to the remaining material and this is then cooked with vegetables, which supply the needed flavor. Such stock serves very well for adding flavor to a nutritious soup made from vegetables or cereal foods.

WHITE STOCK is used in the preparation of white soups and is made by boiling six pounds of a knuckle of veal cut up in small pieces and poultry trimmings. Proceed according to directions given in STOCK.

HOUSEHOLD STOCK is made by cooking meat and bones, either fresh or cooked, with vegetables or other material that will impart flavor and add nutritive value. Stock of this kind is used for ordinary soups.

BONE STOCK is made from meat bones to which vegetables are added for flavor and it is used for making any of the ordinary soups.

VEGETABLE STOCK is made from either dried or fresh vegetables or both. Such stock is employed in making vegetable soups.

GAME STOCK is made from the bones and trimmings of game to which vegetables are added for flavor. This kind of stock is used for making game soups.

FISH STOCK is made from fish or fish trimmings to which vegetables are added for flavor. Shell fish make especially good stock of this kind. Fish stock is employed for making chowders and fish soups.

Additional Uses Of Stock

As has already been shown, stock is used principally as a foundation for certain varieties of soup. This material, however, may be utilized in many other ways, being especially valuable in the use of leftover foods. Any bits of meat or fowl that are left over can be made into an appetizing dish by adding thickened stock to them and serving the combination over toast or rice. In fact, a large variety of made dishes can be devised if there is stock on hand to add for flavor. The convenience of a supply of stock will be apparent when it is realized that gravy or sauce for almost any purpose can be made from the contents of the stockpot.

Previously: Got Soup? (2) - General Classes Of Soup
Coming Up Next: Soup Extracts, Stock Pot, Flavoring Stock

The two purposes for which soup is used have led to the placing of the numerous kinds into two general classes. In the first class are grouped those which serve as appetizers, such as bouillon, consomme, and some other broths and clear soups. In the second class are included those eaten for their nutritive effect, such as cream soups, purees, and bisques. From these two classes of soup, the one that will correspond with the rest of the meal and make it balance properly is the one to choose. For instance, a light soup that is merely an appetizer should be served with a heavy dinner, whereas a heavy, highly nutritious soup should be used with a luncheon or a light meal.

The two general classes of soup already mentioned permit of numerous methods of classification. For instance, soups are sometimes named from the principal ingredient or an imitation of it, as the names potato soup, beef soup, macaroni soup, mock-turtle soup testify. Again, both stimulating and nutritious soups may be divided into thin and thick soups, thin soups usually being clear, and thick soups, because of their nature, cloudy. When the quality of soups is considered, they are placed in still different classes and are called broth, bisque, consomme, puree, and so on. Another important classification of soups results from the nationality of the people who use them.

Classes Of Soup Denoting Consistency

As has already been pointed out, soups are of only two kinds when their consistency is thought of, namely, clear soups and thick soups.

Clear Soups are those made from carefully cleared stock, or soup foundation, and flavored or garnished with a material from which the soup usually takes its name. There are not many soups of this kind, bouillon and consomme being the two leading varieties, but in order to be palatable, they require considerable care in making.

Thick Soups are also made from stock, but milk or cream and any mixture of these may also be used as a basis and to it may be added for thickening meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, or grain or some other starchy material. Soups of this kind are often made too thick and as such soups are not appetizing, care must be taken to have them just right in consistency.

Classes Of Soup Denoting Quality

When attention is given to the quality of soup, this food divides itself into several varieties, namely, broth, cream soup, bisque, chowder and puree.

Broths have for their foundation a clear stock. They are sometimes a thin soup, but other times they are made quite thick with vegetables, rice or barley when they are served as a substantial part of a meal.

Cream Soups are highly nutritious and are of great variety. They have for their foundation a thin cream sauce, but to this are always added vegetables, meat, fish or grains.

Bisques are thick, rich soups made from game fish or shell fish, particularly crabs, shrimp etc. occasionally, vegetables are used in soups of this kind.

Chowders are soups that have sea food for their basis. Vegetables and crackers are generally added for thickening and to impart flavor.

Purees are soups made thick partly or entirely by the addition of some material obtained by boiling an article of food and then straining it to form a pulp. When vegetables containing starch such as beans, peas, lentils or potatoes are used for this purpose, it is unnecessary to thicken the soup with any additional starch; but when meat, fish or watery vegetables are used, other thickening is required. To be right, a puree should be nearly as smooth as thick cream and of the same consistency.

Previously: Got Soup? (1) Introduction
Coming Up next: Stock For Soup And Its Uses

SOUP is a liquid food that is prepared by boiling meat or vegetables, or both, in water and then seasoning and sometimes thickening the liquid that is produced. It is usually served as the first course of a dinner, but it is often included in a light meal, such as luncheon. Soup is an easily made, economical, and when properly prepared from healthful and nutritious material, very wholesome article of diet, deserving of much more general use than is commonly accorded it.

This and the next few posts are to acquaint you with the details of making appetizing and nutritious soups that make for both economy and healthfulness.

Value Of Soup In A Meal

Soup contains the very essence of all that is nourishing and sustaining in the foods of which it is made. The importance of soup is to consider the purposes it serves in a meal. When its variety and the ingredients of which it is composed are thought of, soup serves two purposes: first, as an appetizer taken at the beginning of a meal to stimulate the appetite and aid in the flow of digestive juices in the stomach; and secondly, as an actual part of the meal, when it must contain sufficient nutritive material to permit it to be considered as a part of the meal instead of merely an addition.

Care should be taken to make soup attractive enough to appeal to the appetite rather than discourage it. Soup should not be greasy nor insipid in flavor, neither should it be served in large quantities nor without proper accompaniment. A small quantity of well-flavored, attractively served soup cannot fail to meet the approval of any family when it is served as the first course of the meal.

Coming Up Next: General Classes Of Soup

Lotus Root - I used to use this for my artwork to make prints, now I use it for soup.

I tell you… this soup is so sweet, my tastebuds went into a delightful frenzy!

It has been a while since I had this soup. I used to eat Lotus Root Pork Rib Soup at the food court at Amara Hotel in Singapore. There is a herbal soup stall selling soups like Black Chicken Herbal Soup, Duck with Salted Vegetable Soup, Pork Rib Watercress Soup etc. They serve their soup with yam rice which is very unique.

I came across this Lotus Root Pork Rib Soup Recipe from Rasa Malaysia. She said that if Tigerfish and I moved down to Irvine, Southern California, she will cook for us. Wait… let me re-read her comments… oh, she said we will have a big cook-out. Sure! Rasa Malaysia cooks, the rest of us eat. Deal?

While I hone my cooking skills and drool over her pictures, I got to cook my own soup. As you may already know, dried shrimp and dried scallops are the secret ingredients to my soups. Rasa Malaysia revealed that her secret ingredient was honey dates. Now, I can’t have too many secret ingredients, can I? Will they cancel out each other’s effectiveness? I decided to use honey dates for this one and spare my dried shrimp and dried scallops.

Also, I used pork and pork bone instead of pork ribs cos I ran out of cash tend to only drink the soup and use pork as a flavoring ingredient.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

- 8-10 dried red dates
- 3 dried honey dates
- 1 lotus root (about 5″ long)
- 1/2 lb lean pork, bone-in
- 6 cups hot water
- Salt to taste

Preparation and Cooking Method:

1. Soak red dates and honey dates in warm water for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, scrub lotus root clean, discard the ends, peel and cut lotus root into 1/3″ slices. Transfer lotus root, red dates and honey dates to slow cooker.

3. Blanch pork in boiling water to remove scum. (I bought pork picnic, bone-in, so I used the bones as well. I also had the butcher cut the pork into smaller pieces so that they are more manageable and can fit snugly onto the base of my Rival Crockpot. )

4. Transfer pork to slow cooker. Add hot water to crockpot. Set on high heat for 4 hours, or low heat for 6-8 hours.

5. Add salt to taste.

Cooking Notes:

The honey dates and red dates make the Lotus Root Soup so sweet!

Rasa Malaysia suggested using 2 honey dates for a ready-in-one-hour soup, and 1 honey date for a slow cooked soup. My honey dates (not shown here) looked smaller than the ones in her picture, so I used 3. More power? I don’t know, but the soup tasted great!

She also said not to over boil the soup. Mine tasted fine. Maybe because it was slow cooked at low heat?

I was also surprised that the pork had a sweet taste too after being slow cooked. That usually doesn’t happen for my Watercress Soup or Black Bean Peanut Pork Rib Soup.

You really got to make this Lotus Root Soup. I repeat. You really got to make this Lotus Root Soup.

Hot! Hot! Hot! Smokingly spicy Tom Yam Soup!

J liked my Stir Fried Kailan with Scallops and Shrimp so much that he requested that I cook the same again. However as you already know, it’s not easy to maintain a food blog, so I have to cook something new right?

Since he has a cold and I have prawns and my recently bought Tom Yum Paste that I used to make Melting Wok’s Otak Otak (which I will write about my experience later), I thought why not make Tom Yam Soup? Tom Yam Soup is good as a cold remedy because it’s so spicy it literally clears the nasal passage!

Ingredients (for 1 big serving or 2 small servings):

- 1 fresh lemongrass
- 3 medium prawns, shelled and deveined, set aside heads and shells to make prawn broth
- 1 pc fresh galangal (about 1 inch thick), sliced
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 medium shallot, sliced
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp Tom Yam paste
- 2 heaped spoonfuls of dried shitake mushrooms, sliced and soaked in warm water (you can choose to use straw mushrooms or regular button mushrooms, sliced)
- 1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced on the bias
- lime juice (from 1 medium lime)

Preparation and Cooking Method:

1. Use only the bottom white part (about 6 inches) of the lemongrass and discard the woody grass part of it. Cut into 2 inch segments. With the flat side of a cleaver or a heavy object, pound and bruise the lemongrass so it’s flavor is released.

2. Make prawn broth by adding prawn heads, shells lemongrass and galangal to warm water. Cover pot, bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Remove prawn heads and shells from broth, then add fish sauce, shallots, sugar, Tom Yam paste, mushrooms and green onions into prawn stock. Stir well to dissolve the Tom Yam paste. Cover pot and bring soup to a boil.

4. Add prawns and cook in boiling soup for about 5 minutes or until prawns are curled up.

5. Remove galangal and lemongrass before serving as they are not edible. Add lime juice, stir well and serve.

Cooking Notes:

Do not overcook the prawns or they will become tough. Once they curl up, they are cooked. If you are serving the soup later, then bring soup to a boil and add prawns only about 5 minutes before serving.

Garnish with cilantro (optional).

Test for saltiness and sourness. If required, add more fish sauce (saltiness) or lime juice (sourness).

The recipe above gives you Tom Yam Soup that is a little thick. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add just a wee bit of hot water to dilute it.

Spiciness level for this Tom Yam Goong (Prawns) Soup recipe is medium.