Soup for the soul 煲一锅靓汤

Chinese soup has long history in the kitchen. Chinese believe that soup is very nutritious and can easily be absorbed by the body. Soup is a wonderful hydrator and gives the body much-needed liquid. Drinking hot soup and breathing in the steam can decongest the respiratory system. Depending on the ingredients used, some soups help to cleanse the organs and have therapeutic effects. Chicken soups and broths are commonly believed to relieve colds and flu.

Contrary to western tradition, soups at a Chinese meal are served after or together with the meal and not at the beginning as a starter. They can also do double duty as mealtime beverages. Family members would help themselves from one large communal bowl but you may prefer to serve in individual small bowls for hygiene purpose.

There's nothing quite as comforting as a bowl of steaming hot soup to warm us during winter. In summer, braise winter melon soup or boil watercress soup to replenish the body's lost nutrients and ward off the summer heat. They are also a good water supplements.

There are a many types of Chinese soups, ranging from the most common clear vegetable and bean curd soup, to the expensive shark’s fins and bird’s nest soups. The time taken to make the soup varies as well. If you have time, you may slowly simmer your soup to flavour. This will usually take 1 to 2 hours but it does make a huge difference to the taste. A faster way of cooking soup is to make quick-boiled soup with ready-made stocks. There is a great range of variety and flavours of ready-made soup stocks available in the market. They come in cubes, canned, packets, powder and liquid concentrates, and there are soup stocks with poultry, fish, seafood and vegetable bases. These are really great time-savers. Just put the ingredients and soup stock into a boiling pot of water and a wonderful hearty soup is ready in minutes.

Whilst the ready-made stocks are quick and handy flavour enhancers, I prefer my homemade stocks as most of the ready-made stocks are processed and contained high sodium, MSG and preservatives.

Making your own soup stock from scratch is not difficult, though it could be rather time-consuming. To save your time and effort, make a big pot of stock at one go and store it in the freezer for future use. I like to freeze my concentrated stock into ice cubes to use as a substitute for bouillon cubes. After the cubes get frozen, I store them in a container and use them for cooking soup or noodles dishes.