Pre-processing ingredients makes soups more delicious
Meat
Generally, the meat used in soups is "blanched," which means placing it in cold water, bringing the water to a boil, and skimming off the scum to remove the gamey flavor and make the broth sweeter and clearer.
If using fresh chicken or fresh pork, you can choose whether to blanch based on personal preference. However, for bones, it is recommended to blanch them to remove blood and make the broth clearer.
Never add meat to boiling water, as the proteins on the surface will rapidly coagulate, trapping the gamey flavor and blood inside the ingredients—imagine how such a soup could taste good?
Offal
Some offal requires more careful cleaning and specific preparation methods. For example, pig lungs should be rinsed repeatedly with water. Cut the pig lungs into slices, squeeze them by hand to wash out the foam from the trachea.
Then, use a "dry pan" (a wok without oil) and stir-fry the sliced pig lungs until slightly yellow before using them for the soup. For pig's trotters and tails, it's recommended to blanch them with ginger beforehand to remove the gamey flavor.
If using chicken feet for the soup, after blanching, remove the claws. This allows the collagen in the chicken feet to be more easily released into the soup.
Gourds and Vegetables
Occasionally, gourds and vegetables are used in soups.
Some just need a simple wash, while others, like chayote and loofah, need to be peeled. However, some gourds have their own medicinal value or are more flavorful with the skin on, such as luffa, winter melon, and chayote, so they don't need to be peeled. If using dried vegetables like dried cabbage or dried radish, they need to be soaked in clean water for 20-30 minutes first, then rinsed and set aside.
If you use them without soaking, they will absorb a lot of water during the cooking process, and you might find that after adding a scoop of water, you're left with only a sad half-pot of soup.
Medicinal and Food Ingredients
Red Dates: It is generally believed that the pit of a red date is "heaty" and increases the warming nature of the date, so Cantonese people always remove the pits when making soup.
Tianqi (Panax Notoginseng): If used for a health-boosting soup, Tianqi should be lightly stir-fried in oil first to moderate its nature. If used for medicinal purposes, no pre-processing is needed.
Duzhong (Eucommia): Place Duzhong in a pan, add a light salt solution, and stir-fry over low heat before using it for the soup. This process helps the medicinal properties of Duzhong to be more easily released into the soup.
Mushrooms: Using dried mushrooms for soup is better than fresh ones because fresh mushrooms contain a substance called "porphyrin," which can cause "phytophotodermatitis" after sun exposure. Therefore, dried mushrooms are recommended.
Some ingredients have different forms, such as raw and processed, or stir-fried and not. For example, Shengdi (Rehmannia root) and Shudi (processed Rehmannia root) come from the same plant but are processed differently. Shengdi is used to cool the blood and reduce heat, while Shudi is used for its warming and blood-nourishing properties.
He Shou Wu (Fo-Ti) and processed He Shou Wu: The former is the dried root of the plant, while the latter is processed with black bean juice. Unprocessed He Shou Wu aids bowel movements, while processed He Shou Wu is used to darken hair and strengthen the kidneys.
Some ingredients are stir-fried to reduce their "cooling" nature, such as cassia seed and sour jujube seed. These ingredients, which are naturally cooling, become milder after being stir-fried, making them more suitable for daily health-boosting soups.
Water Amount and Seasoning Timing
When cooking with regular meat ingredients and medicinal/food ingredients together, or when adding leafy green vegetables, you can fill the pot with water to about 90% full. For ingredients like radishes that contain a lot of water, you should add less water accordingly, as they will also release a significant amount of liquid.
When making soups, it is not advisable to add hot water, as it will lock the proteins in the meat, preventing them from being released into the soup. Additionally, Cantonese soups rarely include scallions, cooking wine, or soy sauce during the cooking process. Also, do not add salt too early; wait until the soup is ready and just before drinking to add an appropriate amount for seasoning.
Furthermore, there are some things to note when drinking soup. For tonifying or balancing soups, you should avoid drinking them if you have a cold. The best time to drink soup is before a meal, but for tonifying soups, it is best to drink them on an empty stomach in the morning.