7 Tips for Making Chinese Soups

Here are seven tips you can use for making Chinese soups. They're amazing for saving time, saving energy, and saving effort. And with our busy days, allows us to make delicious, healthy Chinese soup for the whole family. 1. Use soup bags. These help keep the soup clear and makes cleanup so much easier. These bags are eco-friendly and reusable. There are both large and small ones that I use in my soups. The larger ones are for more volume of ingredients, which includes barleys, bean, rice, and come in larger portions. These large ones are also amazing for fish, as it keeps the bones in and the meat together from disintegrating, especially in quick boil soups where the heat and the water circulation can be quite intense. I use the smaller teabags for less ingredients, such as dried scallops for congee. 2. Thin mesh scoopers are a must-have in your kitchen pantry. I use them to scoop oil, fat, debris, or small bits from the soup. They are also great for straining meats and veggies if you'd like to eat them as part of your meal. 3. Use a thermal pot to save energy and time. These insulated pots are designed to retain heat and self-cook. I usually let the soup boil covered for 30 minutes on high heat on the stove, and then will move it into the thermal pot to continue cooking until service. I will reheat at this point and then serve. These things also come in all sizes for both soups and teas. 4. Keep your vegetable scraps for similar soups to enhance flavors. For example, I'm keeping these green radish skins in my freezer in a baggie for future cooling soups, as they are super tasty. They go great in quick-boil soups and help add flavors when you need it. Speaking of flavors, if you feel like you need more oomph in your Chinese soups, drop in a few dried shiitake mushrooms or any type of dried mushrooms. These are staples in my pantry, and I always keep them handy. They are amazing for both meat and vegetarian soups. All you need are a handful, and the easiest way to use them is to drop them into your soup. 6. Any type of pork bones or pork meat will do in Chinese soups. It really makes no difference. So when I'm out shopping and looking for ingredients, especially pork, I'll usually just buy whatever is on sale. And even pork neck bones are so yummy. The meat on these are actually falling off the bones. Super soft and tasty when dipped in soy sauce. I will eat them as part of the meal. And 7. Blanch your pork bones in cold water, although you could do it with boiling water as well. The cold water will allow the water's soluble parts to dissolve out into the water, and then it sets when the water heats up. This really doesn't impact taste, as I've tried both, but it's just easier because I drop the bones into the cold water without having to wait, and then move on to preparing the soup. If you have any more tips, leave them in the comments. I would love to hear them all and try them. Happy soup making, and I'll see you next time.