As we all know, drinking soup in the summer is a great way to nourish the body, but do you know how to make a better soup? What should you pay attention to? The editor will introduce it to you one by one below.
The first point of making soup: Understand the medicinal properties.
For example, if you are making chicken soup to strengthen the stomach and aid digestion, add nutmeg, amomum, bay leaves, and angelica. To nourish the kidneys and strengthen yang, add dogwood bark, moutan bark, alisma root, Chinese yam, rehmannia root, and poria. To nourish yin for women, add red dates, astragalus root, angelica, goji berries, and so on.
The second point of making soup: Understand the nature of the meat.
Soup is generally meat-based. For example, black-bone chicken, yellow chicken, fish, pork ribs, backbones, pig's trotters, lamb, beef marrow, oxtail, dog neck, sheep spine, etc. The nature of each meat is different; some are "fa" (promoting circulation), some are sour, some are hot, and some are warm. The pre-cooking treatment, cooking heat, and required time vary.
The third point of making soup: Use auxiliary ingredients.
Commonly used soup ingredients include giant hylocereus, dried pickled mustard greens, dried shrimp, peanuts, goji berries, American ginseng, grass root fungus, tremella fungus, wood ear fungus, red dates, star anise, cinnamon, fennel, nutmeg, cardamom, dried tangerine peel, dried squid, perilla leaves, and more. Pairing them is an art, and the timing of adding them to the pot matters.
The fourth point of making soup: Pair with side dishes.
When eating soup, a meal is rarely just the soup; you also eat other dishes. However, some pairings can be incompatible and affect the soup's properties. For example, when eating lamb soup, it's not advisable to eat chives at the same time. When eating pig's trotter soup, it's not advisable to eat pine eggs and crab, etc.
The fifth point of making soup: The potting process.
Generally, the ratio of water to soup ingredients should be around 1:3 to 1:4. At the same time, add salt and a little baking soda (only for acidic ingredients). Bring to a boil over high heat to skim the foam, then simmer over low heat until the soup has reduced by about half to three-quarters.
The sixth point of making soup: Serving the soup.
Depending on the nature of the soup, sometimes you drink the soup first, then eat the meat; sometimes you eat the soup and ingredients together; sometimes you eat the ingredients first, then the soup; and sometimes you drink the soup and discard the ingredients. Following these requirements maximizes the effect, otherwise, it affects the outcome.
When making soup, pay attention to the order of adding seasoning. The best ratio of water to ingredients for soup is generally 1:1.5. This is because if too little water is added, the ingredients cannot be fully submerged, affecting the concentration of nutrients in the soup. As the amount of water increases, the concentration of ammonia nitrogen in the soup will decrease after dilution. Experts remind that prolonged heating can destroy vitamins in soups. Heating for 1 to 1.5 hours can achieve the peak nutritional value for most soups, offering the best balance between energy consumption and nutritional value.
Things to Note When Making Soup
1. It is not suitable to use soup for nourishment when you have a cold. Even mild American ginseng should be avoided, as it can easily worsen cold symptoms.
2. These therapeutic soups need to be consumed regularly to be effective, 2-3 times a week is appropriate.
3. You can also choose mild ingredients based on your physical condition. For example, if you have excessive internal heat, you can choose heat-clearing and moistening foods like mung beans, kelp, winter melon, and lotus seeds. If you have excessive internal cold, you should choose ginseng and similar ingredients as the soup base.
4. When making soup, do not use too high a heat. The heat should be based on the boiling level of the soup. If the soup boils violently, the protein molecules in the meat will be destroyed.
5. When simmering over low heat, do not open the lid or add water midway. This is because the meat contracts when it encounters cold, making it difficult for the protein to dissolve, and the soup loses its original flavor, affecting its taste.
6. When making soup with chicken, duck, ribs, or other meats, first blanch the meat in boiling water. This process is called "chuxu" or "feishui." This not only removes blood but also some fat, preventing the soup from being too greasy.
7. The trick for making fish soup is to first fry the fish in oil on both sides until the skin is set. This prevents it from falling apart and also removes any fishy smell.
8. It is better to add ingredients to the pot when the water is cold. Hot water will cause the protein to coagulate quickly, making it difficult to release the umami flavor.
9. Avoid adding too much scallion, ginger, cooking wine, or other seasonings, as this can affect the original flavor of the soup. Also, avoid adding salt too early, as early salting can cause the protein in the meat to coagulate, making it difficult to dissolve, which can lead to a darker color, thinner consistency, and unappealing appearance.
10. For soup pots, it is best to choose a sandpot with a fine texture. Low-quality sand glaze may contain a small amount of lead, which can dissolve out when cooking acidic foods, which is harmful to health. A white-glazed clay pot is also a good choice. For a new sandpot, first use it to cook congee or smear the bottom with oil and let it sit for a day before washing it and boiling water once. After this "seasoning" process, it can be used to make soup.
11. The main nutrients in soup are amino acids. If heated for too long, new substances can be produced, and the nutrients will be destroyed. Generally, fish soup is ready in about 1 hour, and chicken or rib soup is ready in about 3 hours. Therefore, longer cooking does not necessarily mean better soup.