Growing up in Hong Kong, Soup is always been a big part of the meal. It is unimaginable that anyone would eat dinner without a bowl of homemade Chinese soup. Usually in a Chinese home-style meal, soup is often served instead of drinks (ie water, soda, tea) during a meal. Slurping the soup is encouraged as a sign of approval and appreciation of the person who prepared the soup, although in recent years it is becoming less acceptable because the American etiquette is becoming the norm.
Preparing Chinese soup is actually pretty simple and straightforward if you understand a few principles and techniques. Soups for everyday meals are often simple broths made from meat, bones and vegetables, simmered for hours to bring out the flavor of the ingredients. The key to a good pot of Chinese soup is the broth, which you have to make yourself to get the best flavor and nutrients not found in any store-brought form. Soup typically do not have heavy herbs and other flavorings because the emphasis is to bring out the natural favor of the meat/vegetables in the soup.
There are a few ways to prepare an amazing broth that is the key to good Chinese soup. In this post I'm going to introduce a method that is easy and inexpensive, making use of that leftover turkey/roast chicken caress from last night's dinner.
Tip #1: When using any meat ingredient (turkey, chicken, etc) for Chinese soup, it is very important that you leave the bone and the meat intact while the soup cooks. There are flavors and nutrients in the bones that make the broth more favorable and nutrients. The bones release carnosine, an anti-oxidant that help fight colds. The joints between the bones also release collagen, which is good for beautiful skin and prevents aging. When the soup is finished you can de-bone and discard the bones before serving the soup.
Tip #2: Ginger is sometimes added to a Chinese chicken soup to help prevent colds. It is also used in soup to help sooth a sore throat. (see why chicken soup is good for colds and flu?)
Chinese Chicken Soup #1
Ingredients:
1 leftover caress of turkey/chicken (the spine, rib cage, hip bones), break into large chunks
few slices of ginger, to taste
A pinch of salt, to taste
A big pot with water (around 8 Quarts)
Optional: 4-5 cups Vegetable of your choice (I used pumpkin here, but you can use other squash/root type vegetables like carrots, Chinese squash, etc. Another popular Cantonese home style combo is potatoes, tomatoes and carrots)
Direction:
1) Bring the pot of water to a boil.
2) Put in the leftover chicken/turkey, ginger, vegetable and salt, and bring to a boil.
3) When the pot boils, reduce heat to a simmer, and set timer to let it simmer for 1.5 hours
4) Turn the heat off. If wished take the chicken out and de-bone it, throw away the bone and return the meat into the soup before serving.
Note: Alternatively you can also use a slow cooker for this. Throw everything into a pot and slow cook for 2-3 hrs. Easy, right?
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