Cook Quick Soup Recipes With These Two Tips
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Quick soup recipes make use of quick boiling of a good soup stock and fresh ingredients to make delicious pots of Chinese soups.
Busy cooks need quick soup recipes because it means being able to get hot delicious soup onto the dining table under 30 minutes. What could be simpler than quick boiling as a soup making technique?
It involves bringing a soup stock to a good boil, add all the ingredients in and cook till they are done. Suitable for fresh seafood, fresh green leafy vegetables and any ingredient that cooks quickly.
Here are a few tips to make the cooking process a breeze.
Tip 1. Use a soup stock
Quick boiling soups need a good soup stock. Since it is cooked quickly, there is insufficient time for the ingredients to "impart" any flavour to the soup unlike the simmering soup method. So, instead of water, make sure you start with a good soup stock.
You will be surprised at how good a soup taste even if just a store-bought stock cube was added to flavor the soup. Water with seasonings like salt and pepper is not enough. Learn more about making soup stocks.
Tip 2. Marinating the meat ingredients
Meat like pork, beef, chicken or fish should be thinly sliced. A little pounding with the back of a knife or meat mallet to loosen the meat fibre helps to tenderize the meat.
They should then be lightly marinated. Some recipes will include the ingredients for the marinate. But if the recipe does not have it, you may use a little light soy sauce / fish sauce, pepper and sesame seed oil. A little oyster sauce like the Lee Kum Kee - Premium Oyster Sauce. or some vegetarian Mushroom "Oyster" Sauce.
After seasoning, a little cornstarch or a soup thickener should be added. The cornstarch coats the meat slices giving them a smoother texture when cooked. It also prevents moisture from escaping. Read more about cornstarch and thickeners.
Some typical quick and easy soups include egg drop soups, hot and sour soups, seafood and tofu soups.
Two Quick Soup Recipes
Recipe 1. Vegetable soup with fish balls, broccoli, mushrooms and crab meat
This vegetable soup contains a wide variety of ingredients and offers different flavors and texture.
Fish balls are usually made with Spanish mackerel. You can make it on your own but they can be easily found at the frozen section in the Asian supermarket.
Ingredients
- 100g enoki mushrooms
- 100g fish balls
- 75g crab meat
- 100g broccoli
- 1 litre vegetable stock
Seasonings
- 1 tbsp dashi stock
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp ketchup
Directions
- Clean the crab meat
- Cut off the roots of the enoki mushrooms, wash them and remove any dirt trapped
- Separate the enoki mushrooms into smaller bunches
- Rinse the fish balls and broccoli
- Cut the broccoli into small florets
- Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a soup pot
- Add the mushrooms, fish balls and broccoli
- Cook for a few minutes or until the fish balls float to the surface
- Add the crab meat
- Add all the seasoning
- Serve
Recipe 2. Tofu soup with mushrooms and bok choy
Appetizing and beneficial to the spleen. Try this soup if you have a weak stomach and suffer from indigestion.
Ingredients
- 100g champignon mushrooms
- 2 pieces of soft tofu
- 1 stalk bok choy
- 1 tsp goji berries
- 500ml vegetable stock
Seasonings
- 1 tsp grounded ginger
- Salt and pepper
Directions
- Wash the mushrooms and parboil for 1 minute, remove and drain
- Cut the soft tofu into small pieces (about the size of the mushroom)
- Wash the bok choy and break into separate stems
- Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a pot
- Add the mushrooms, tofu, goji berries, seasonings and cook for about 2 minutes
- Add the bok choy and cook till it is done
- Remove and serve
