Soup's On!
A quick guide to my favorite food group.
Anyone who talks to me for longer than five minutes knows I love food, and anyone who talks to me for longer than five minutes about food knows I love soup.
For me, soup is one of those “anytime” foods. It is always comforting, is not too filling or heavy, and there is simply so much variety that I could probably eat a different soup every day for years and still find something new.
If you are a soup aficionado (or wish to become one), you need only have a few staples in your arsenal ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Sunday stock
This is the base for most of my homemade soups. It is definitely suited primarily to North American/Western European-style soups than, for example, Vietnamese phở, Indian mulligatawny, Ukrainian borscht, or Mexican pozole. (More on this in a bit!)
I keep a Ziploc bag of vegetable scraps (typically from onion or other alliums, carrots, celery, parsley stems, garlic skins, etc.) and whatever’s leftover from various chicken dinners in the freezer. When it’s full and absolutely will not close anymore, I dump the whole bag into a big pot, cover it with water, and bring to a boil.
Once it’s at a boil, turn the heat down to very low and let simmer (covered or uncovered, it doesn’t really matter) for a minimum of two hours. This can be done in a 350F oven, but I recommend covering your pot to limit the chances of hard-to-clean spills. An Instant Pot or a slow cooker are also perfect vessels for stock! Note that I don’t season my stock here; I prefer to flavor it at the point of cooking so I have more control over the final dish.
When my stock looks (and smells) ready to strain, I turn off the heat and let it cool for a while, until it is at sipping temperature. The scraps continue to steep and I also reduce the risk of accidentally pouring burning hot liquid all over myself.
I use a fine-mesh strainer over a measuring jug for ease of decanting. If you want, you can do a double strain or skim with a cheesecloth or a similar material, but I typically don’t bother. I store my stock in plastic deli quart containers in my fridge for up to five days, or in my freezer for several months.
For a vegetarian version, omit the chicken scraps and try adding mushroom trimmings for more depth.
Stock options
As mentioned above, Sunday stock will work for most Italian/Mediterranean-ish flavor profiles, but is not necessarily ubiquitous for other cuisines.
For example, the main difference between Western European and East Asian stocks is generally how the protein scraps are treated. Instead of putting everything straight into the pot and boiling, pork, beef, and/or chicken bones are blanched to pull out some of the impurities like myoglobin and to create a lighter, clearer color and flavor.
Below are some other examples to keep on hand, based on your preferred meals.
Of course, you don’t have to make your own stock from scratch. Better Than Bouillon has a great range of options and you can often find instant versions of ingredients like Korean beef broth or dashi powder.
The scoop (or ladle) on soup
Now that you have your base of choice, it’s time to make some real decisions. Here are the primary categories to consider as you progress through your soup-making journey.
Cuisine/flavor profile
The world is full of so many wonderful options and you may initially feel spoiled (or overwhelmed) for choice. Your favorites will likely come down to a few flavor profiles, which are simply the typical tastes, textures, and aromas of a given dish or cuisine. Similar to the stock varieties above, these are largely informed by aromatics and spices.
For example, Italian cooking tends to lean on garlic, thyme, rosemary, and basil, while Thai cooking will often include ginger, chili, lemongrass, lime, and coconut. You may also notice that Mexican and Indian cooking share similar warming spices, such as cumin, coriander, and different types of chili powder.
The Culinary Pro offers a thoughtful breakdown of many areas around the world and their typical associated flavors. Once you have chosen your favorite flavor bases, you can stock your kitchen with the necessary ingredients to recreate them and experiment with different combinations.
Texture
Deciding your preferred texture, consistency, or mouthfeel is a bit simpler. The majority of soups are either brothy or creamy, and either light or hearty. The two sides are not mutually exclusive, however; Thai coconut soup is creamy and light, for example, while chicken noodle soup is brothy and hearty.
Building blocks
Now that you have your soup base and ideal flavor profile and texture in mind, you can start to construct.
Vegetables
Vegetables that are frozen or canned — or that simply have been forgotten in the fridge for just a tad too long — are great for soup. Soup need not be pretty and the fresh elements need not be prime crudités candidates.
My alphabet vegetable soup (found via my vegetables guide!) includes many canned and frozen vegetables and always comes out perfectly nourishing and delicious.
Grains
I’ve found that no matter what type of grain I’m using in my soup, it needs to hold up against everything else in the bowl.
Plump, curly egg noodles slot in perfectly with bite-sized cubes of carrot and celery, while long, delicate rice noodles are most beautiful coated in a rich, silky broth. Rice soaks up flavor like nothing else and small pasta is a delightful spoonful when accompanied by a variety of other textures. Even bread is on hand for a quick, clean-out-the-pantry soup, served hot or cold, or on the side for dunking.
I wouldn’t recommend anything too small and dense, such as quinoa, barley, or couscous. They will get too soggy and weigh down the rest of the soup.
Protein
Shredded chicken, especially white meat, can find its way into most soups without much trouble. A variety of legumes can also easily make themselves at home in soups from around the world, from Greece to India. Crumble some Italian sausage into minestrone or spoon some velvety soft tofu into a spicy Korean broth or a Japanese miso soup. Swirl a few eggs into a homemade version of the Chinese American restaurant-style classics, egg drop soup or hot-and-sour soup.
If you want to lighten up a creamy potato-based soup, try adding in some white beans instead. They will serve much the same purpose that potatoes do and add extra protein and fiber, but without contributing any conflicting flavor. Irish farmhouse soup (pictured above) is a great opportunity for this!
Acid
As Samin Nosrat has taught us all, good food is a balance of salt, fat, acid, and heat. While many home cooks know how to utilize three out of four of these, acid is often the element that goes neglected.
Acid adds lift to stodgy dishes, as well as a piquant je ne sais quoi to most foods. The longer the ingredient is simmering away in the soup, the more the acidity will be blunted, so use sparingly and taste as you go. Wine is often best utilized toward the beginning, for example, while a squeeze of citrus is a great last-minute brightener.
Forms of acid include:
Wine or sherry
Vinegar (balsamic, white or distilled, red wine, rice wine, etc.)
Citrus
Fermented/pickled ingredients (sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.)
For the diehard pickle lovers out there, give this dill pickle soup a spin.
Toppings
This is a catch-all category for anything you want to finish off a soup, from a drizzle of olive oil to a poached egg, from melted cheese to bacon bits.
Don’t overthink this part! You can simply drop a few frozen dumplings into your instant ramen, swirl some chili oil on top, and add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and scallion, and you’ve got a more filling and more complex meal than what comes from the little dehydrated flavor packet.
Go with your heart and what you have on hand, but chopped fresh herbs always add a pop of vivid flair, and anything with contrast like crunchy croutons or oyster crackers can prevent texture fatigue from an otherwise fairly two-dimensional experience.
Happy (soup) spooning!
Not only do I love all of your soup wisdom, I love the sprinkling of soup puns. I am looking forward to your instant ramen newsletter SO much!!