Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a noodle shop renowned not only for its delicious taste but also for its strong, chewy noodles that were filling and left a lasting impression. However, it was a rule that one must drink the soup after eating the noodles. A certain strong man, confident in his robust digestion, insisted on eating only the noodles and refused the soup. The waiter followed him, offering kind advice, but the man refused. Shortly after returning home, he was seized by unbearable abdominal pain, suffering from constipation, tossing and turning, and on the verge of death, filled with regret. At that moment, the waiter burst through the door with the noodle soup, pried open the man's teeth, and instantly, the sound of rumbling intestines filled the air as his qi and circulation unblocked, saving him from the brink of disaster.
Using noodle soup to treat a critical illness is, of course, just a tall tale, but the saying "the original soup aids the digestion of the original food" is not without reason. In folk tradition, it has become a custom to drink the soup after eating noodles, believed to aid digestion, benefit the spleen and stomach, reduce food stagnation, and increase appetite. From a modern perspective, the broth from boiling noodles, dumplings, etc., contains starch, dextrin, and numerous digestive enzymes. Therefore, drinking the soup with the noodles does indeed aid digestion, and the practice of "the original soup aids the digestion of the original food" should be encouraged.
Compared to cooking methods like steaming, stir-frying, deep-frying, and braising, making soup has its own advantages:
1. It can use hard, indigestible ingredients like bones and fish bones as stock, cooking nutrients such as collagen into the soup for people to enjoy.
2. It fully dissolves water-soluble nutrients into the soup, such as various vitamins, amino acids, salts, and trace elements, which is why vegetable and meat broths are generally very nutritious.
3. It is suitable for medicinal diets. Some Chinese medicinal herbs and foods that are both medicinal and edible are more suitable for making soup to enhance their medicinal properties. For example, Angelica sinensis, Codonopsis pilosula, and Cordyceps sinensis are best boiled in soups with chicken or duck to boost their nourishing effects.
4. It is suitable for nourishing the elderly, the weak, and patients. Soups are generally easy to digest and absorb, requiring little chewing. The elderly often have weaker digestive abilities, reduced secretion of salivary amylase, and missing teeth, making soups a better way to supplement their nutrition.
When making soup, green vegetables should be added later, and salt should be added before the vegetables to preserve their fresh color. Drinking soup before a meal can dilute gastric juices and affect digestion, so those with atrophic gastritis or low stomach acid should not drink too much soup before meals or eat rice soaked in soup. Since purine substances are water-soluble, people with gout should avoid drinking large amounts of mushroom, lean meat, or seafood soup.