How to Cook Satiating Chinese Soups

Soups are among the oldest and most common warming dishes for cold seasons. In Chinese culture, soups are practically synonymous with homely vibes and family meals, paired with other goodies to share around the table or even served as a sumptuous main dish. Some traditional Chinese soups can also provide medicinal goodness and are highly treasured.

Cooking Chinese Soups: The Basics

Flavour, fullness and comfort are the essential features of Chinese soups. Common ingredients include bone, meats and vegetables that exude their rich flavours during the boil.

Claypot, thermal pot, slow-cooker, or just your regular stainless-steel pot with a lid, are all great to cook Chinese soups. The key is the heat intensity and how long you apply it. Master that, and you never have to worry about over-cooking. In fact, the longer you cook, the tastier some soups can become.

Chinese soups typically use a minimal amount of seasoning. Instead, rely on the main ingredients for their natural full-bodied flavours. Choose ingredients that are slow to break down, such as cheaper cuts of meat and root vegetables.

Want a richer taste? Precook a stock with leftover meats and some herbs and spices as a base flavour for your Chinese soups. Check out this authentic recipe for Chinese Master Stock, which you can also use to cook other yummy delights apart from soup.

Every sip should be tender and pleasurable, with the meats and root veggies softened for easy consumption, and the soups’ umami tastes flow down your throat and settle to warm your belly. The exception is perhaps Sichuan cuisine, where tongue-numbing spiciness is the signature flavour.

Common ‘Styles’ of Chinese Soups

Quick Boil

15 to 30 minutes is all you need to make a sumptuous Chinese soup! Perfect for after-work meals or when you want something fast, warming and satiating. Never mind the bone-stock for this style of soup. Ground meats, thin-sliced beef and pork, pork ribs, chicken wings and thighs are ideal for the meaty flavour. For root veggies like carrot, radish, melons and potatoes, cut them into smaller chunks or cubes. Sturdier leafy greens such as wombok are great, too. Come check out all the Chinese quick boil soups you can make!

Stove Top Boil

Also known as ‘old fire soup’ or Lo Fo Tong in Cantonese, this style of soup begins with a boil, then a long simmer of anywhere between 40 minutes to 2 hours. Meat and bone stock are made with this method, allowing the persistent low heat to break down the fat and proteins till they melt and blend into a thick, creamy, savoury soup.

Root vegetables are ideal for this method as well, softening to crumbly textures for more comforting bites. Stove top boil soups also typically use preserved seafood or a simple blend of herbs and spices to enrich their flavours.

As mentioned above: the longer the boil, the yummier the soup becomes. Just make sure you put in more water, as the soup will slowly evaporate during the long cooking. Also be sure to cover your pot with a lid to concentrate the heat.

Ready to try it? Start with a wholesome radish or winter melon soup. Go meaty with this deeply savoury lotus root and peanut soup, or this rich herbal pork ribs favourite. Also savour the umami and subtle sweetness of this beloved watercress special.

Double Boil

Double boiling involves 2 pots – a smaller, usually ceramic pot for the soup, placed into a larger pot of water, covered with a lid and boiled. This way, the heat and steam from the simmering water cooks the soup; the soup itself doesn’t bubble, allowing the ingredients to retain their shapes, while softening their textures and releasing their flavours.

The double boil method is commonly used to cook rich-tasting soups with medicinal properties. Goji berries and red dates are staples in double boil soups to add a subtle sweetness to the rich savoury-bitter flavours. Umami examples include this iconic chicken soup packed with traditional Chinese herbs, this bracing Ginseng and cordyceps special, and this Angelica Root soup. All 3 of these can be cooked with the stove-top method too, though a little less tasty than double-boiled.

More Soup-perb Asian Goodness

A steamy bowl of yummy, sumptuous soup is a cozy winter warmer that can instantly better your mood, comfort your soul and keep your spirits up! Come check out more of these tasty soupy goodies from across Asia. You can even satiate your sweet-tooth cravings with these delightful Asian dessert soups!