Secrets and Guide to Making Soup
There are six key secrets to making a delicious soup with both medicinal value and great taste:
● You must use a large clay pot (one with a wide belly and a narrow mouth is best). Once you add water, do not add any more. After bringing it to a boil over medium heat, simmer it on low or very low heat for more than two hours. Only a clay pot can bring out the unique umami flavor. The clay pot is the "origin" of soup making.
● You should add enough ginger. Ginger is the "soul" of soup making.
● You must use fresh meat with a small amount of fat. This is the "quality" of the soup.
● You must add one or two ingredients that clear heat, promote urination, and strengthen the spleen, such as lotus root, lily, watercress, water chestnut, Chinese yam, or radish. This is the "foundation" of the soup.
● You must add one or two sweet ingredients, such as a few red dates, honey dates, a small amount of raisins, or longan kernels. You can also add American ginseng, astragalus, goji berries, or angelica according to different needs. This is the "essence" of the soup.
● You can appropriately add one or two stems, fungi, and dried fruits, such as giant hyacinth, daylilies, shiitake mushrooms, black and white fungus, peanuts, ginkgo nuts, or lotus seeds. These are the "companions" of the soup.
One more reminder: use as little salt as possible when making soup, and do not or use very little MSG. The ratio of water to ingredients should be 2:1, and you can adjust the order of adding ingredients based on the nature of the food and personal preference. If you don't have a clay pot, you can use an enamel pot or an electric clay pot to solve the problem of not being able to watch it while at work. Also, pay attention to food pairings禁忌; for example, ginseng and radish should never be cooked together.
Complete Guide to Making Soup
Many people enjoy making soup at home, but often they don't get the hang of it. Try some of the tips we've introduced, and you'll definitely be able to make a delicious soup to share with your family.
Little Secrets:
For a more flavorful soup: It's best to use cold water to make soup. If you pour hot water into the pot from the beginning, the sudden high temperature will cause the outer layer of protein in the meat to coagulate immediately, preventing the proteins from fully dissolving into the soup.
For a clearer soup: To get a clear, non-turbid soup, you must simmer it over low heat so that it just simmers without a rolling boil. A vigorous boil will cause the protein molecules in the soup to clump into many white particles, naturally making the soup cloudy.
For a thicker soup: When you don't have stock and want to make the soup thicker, one method is to thicken it with a thin starch slurry to give it a richer consistency. The second method is to add oil, which will emulsify with the soup. The method is to heat the oil first, then pour in the soup, cover the pot tightly, and cook over high heat. Before long, the soup will become thicker.
For a less salty soup: Just put some flour or rice in a small cloth bag and cook it in the soup; the salt will be absorbed, and the soup will naturally become less salty. Alternatively, you can put a clean, raw potato in the soup and cook it for 5 minutes, which will also reduce the saltiness.
For a less greasy soup: Some ingredients are very oily, making the soup greasy. In this case, you can lightly toast a small amount of seaweed over a flame and then sprinkle it into the soup to remove the grease.