Soup in the Chinese Kitchen

[Yuki]

Soup is an important part of a Cantonese home meal and grandmothers all have a calendar thar decides which soup is most suitable for the weather and health of the family. The soup could be one that takes over 8hrs to simmer or a quick soup that can be done in 15min.

Since the Oxtail is on special today, I brought some along with some green and normal(orange) carrots to make a soup. It is still simmering on the stove and will be placed into the thermol pot to stay overnight. My mother used to make a similar version with ox tongues, and then after the soup is done, the tongues are still flavourful so she would mix it up with ketchup to make spaghetti.

My favourite soup of all time: Fuzzy melon with chicken and salty egg yolks. I once drank the whole pot (3L) in an hour.

Please share your favourite homemade soup.

[Dejah]

Winter melon with the skin on, simmered for the afternoon with dried oysters, pork neck bones and dried tangerine peel.

Bitter melon soup with dried oysters, neck bones and a big chunk of fresh ginger.

Dried bok choy soup with wind dried duck feet, pork butt, dried dates and a few Chinese almonds.

Lotus root soup with dried octopus, preserved turnip, ginger and a big hunk of pork butt.

Fresh bok choy, carrots, celery, beef trimmings (gristle with bits of fat, and fresh ginger.

Say mai tang with American gingsen root (lotus nuts, almonds, gee jai see, sa tam, etc.etc) and a hunk of pork butt.

Chinese okra with slivers of ham or chicken.

Come deer hunting season, my s-i-l will make venison soup with Chinese herbs and dried longan.

[Gary Soup]

Not necessarily my favorite but #1 in the hearts of Shanghainese is yan du xian, which is desribed well in this article. My wife omits the bacon, and often throws in bean thread and egg dumplings (dan jiao), which may be a reflection of her Wuxi origins. (Wuxi New Year's soup contains bean thread, egg dumplings and whole poached eggs in a rich chicken stock.)

Not mentioned in the article, but another favorite of Shanghainese is Yellowfish Soup, which contains simmered whole carp.

I happen to also be fond of Shanghai "Russian" soup (luosang tang), which is about as un-Chinese as you can get, containing beef, (Western) cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, and a shot or two of ketchup as a secret ingredient.

[Yuki]

Dried bok choy soup with wind dried duck feet, pork butt, dried dates and a few Chinese almonds.

Lotus root soup with dried octopus, preserved turnip, ginger and a big hunk of pork butt.

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My grandma always make those soup, but when I try to replicate, it just doesn't taste the same. I am fond of soup made with any kind of melon or carrots because they are lighter.

There is some storage of dried herbs and other goodies for soup in the cupboard. I don't know how they will affect the taste of the soup but I just add it in anyways(following the advices of grandma).

My worst nightmare about soup happened during my elementary school year, my mother heard from my grandma that drinking soup made with dong quai, black chicken and other herbs will aid a child's growth(the vertical kind.....). Ahhh, the horrible smell and taste during every Saturaday's lunch. My sister love those soup so she would secretly drink it for me but her body is too "hot" for dong quai. She ended up having a quite severe nose bleed................

[Ben Hong]

Ching Bo Leng soup when I'm feeling guilty about my dietary habits. Dejah, after reading your list, it seems more and more like I'm "comig home" when I visit in November. Wanna adopt a 62 year old lo wah kieu orphan?

[jo-mel]

A simple one for me ----- either made at home or enjoyed out.

Zha Cai Rou Si Tang----- Sichuan Pickle and Shredded Pork.

Tasty with a simple canned chicken broth, memorable with a truely good homemade chicken broth with depth.

[Transparent]

I'm not a soup person. This brings horror to Popo and my Mom's hearts. I don't know why, but I really dislike most soup. I will only drink soup if it's one of the few I really like from my childhood. Unfortunately, all of these soups have been in restaurants, and I've haven't had them in years. I know, I know, I'm a blasphemer.

[Gary Soup]

Wanna adopt a 62 year old lo wah kieu orphan?  

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I'm also 62, but considered unadoptable. I'll be 63 before you get to Manitoba though. That's 63 in American years, but in Chinese reckoning I'd be 65. I've got Ju Ju trying to explain that to the Social Security and Medicare people. So far, nothing doing.

[Dejah]

I'm also 62, but considered unadoptable.  I'll be 63 before you get to Manitoba though.  That's 63 in American years, but in Chinese reckoning I'd be 65.  I've got Ju Ju trying to explain that to the Social Security and Medicare people.  So far, nothing doing. 

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When is your bday? Gary? Did Ju Ju throw a big 60th bday party for you? That is considered an important one for Chinese people. When my brother turned 60, we held a big party at a dance hall that he owned. We had a whole Chinese BBQ pig, apple in its mouth, etc, etc. We special ordered it from the BBQ shop in Winnipeg. It was eating, drinking and dancing all night. My brother and s-i-l are great dancers.

For hubby Bill's 60th, he didn't get suckling pig as he is gwai lo

I was managing a laundromat for my brother at the time, so I held it in the coffee shop.

All our past band members and classmates showed up. He was totally surprised. We jammed 'til the wee hours.

Ben! Give me your favorite soups list and I'll make sure the ingredients are stocked up. We are all very much looking forward to your visit. Any one else want to come?

[nemissa]

My mom also makes the soup with fuzzy melons and salty egg, but she uses pork instead of chicken, and adds dried shiitake mushrooms. Ahh... So tasty. Many of my favorites, like winter melon soup, oxtail soup with red and green carrots, dried bok choy, and "Russian" soup have been mentioned. Let's see what else...

- Something with lots of different beans and fat choy. No idea what else is in it, but the soup is opaque and a brick-red color.

- Watercress soup

- "egg flower" soup with tofu, peas, pork all cut into small cubes. Serve with white pepper!

- Seaweed soup with fish balls

There are many, many other types that I have no clue about. Whenever I ask, she'll just answer "medicinal soup"... I miss home :(

[Laksa]

Soup is an important part of a Cantonese home meal and grandmothers all have a calendar thar decides which soup is most suitable for the weather and health of the family.

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One of my Cantonese friends once told me that whenever someone in the house is coming down with a cold, or sprained an ankle, or even if something much less dire happens -- oh, I don't know, mui mui had a nightmare? -- that is sufficient reason to bo tong yum -- cook up a big pot of soup. Any excuse will do, really.

Some of my favorite Cantonese soups are the sweet dessert ones, actually. Anything with lotus seeds or barley.

[Hest88]

My two favorites are simple ones: pork bone soup and chicken with white fungus (thrown in at the end so that they're nice and crunchy). My mother will often come up with crazy combinations where she'll throw in a dozen sinfully expensive ingredients, cook them to death, and then expect the soup to taste good, but I've tried to tell her that I really enjoy her easy preps the best.

[Dejah]

Gary,

I checked into the article about Yan Du Xian and it mentioned the chilled fruit soup as an accompaniment for salads . In the cookbook thread, I believe that salad was mentioned as not being part of the Chinese food repetoire?

Is it a regional thing? What would be a salad in Shanghai cuisine?

[Gary Soup]

When is your bday? Gary? Did Ju Ju throw a big 60th bday party for you? That is considered an important one for Chinese people. When my brother turned 60, we held a big party at a dance hall that he owned. We had a whole Chinese BBQ pig, apple in its mouth, etc, etc. We special ordered it from the BBQ shop in Winnipeg. It was eating, drinking and dancing all night. My brother and s-i-l are great dancers.

For hubby Bill's 60th, he didn't get suckling pig  as he is gwai lo  

I was managing a laundromat for my brother at the time, so I held it in the coffee shop.

All our past band members and classmates showed up. He was totally surprised. We jammed 'til the wee hours.

Yeah, the 60th is important and ominous, IMHO. I'd completed a complete life-cycle (12 animals X 5 elements) and began living on borrowed time.

Here's part of the meal Ju-Ju tried to dispatch me with on my 60th:

[Gary Soup]

Gary,

I checked into the article about Yan Du Xian and it mentioned the chilled fruit soup as an accompaniment for salads . In the cookbook thread, I believe that salad was mentioned as not  being part of the Chinese food repetoire?

Is it a regional thing? What would be a salad in Shanghai cuisine?

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Shanghainese will serve any number of veggie or veggie and dried tofu dishes as cold dishes, though the veggies are generally parboiled. I guess these could be called "salads," as would jellyfish "salad." Raw shelled soybeans or fava beans, tomato slices, and cucumber are also served as kinds of salads. Raw leafy greens, never.

The only dish I have heard referred to as "sala" (no "d") in Shanghainese is a form of potato salad, very similar to, and probably inspired by, Western potato salad.

[Dejah]

Yeah, the 60th is important and ominous, IMHO.  I'd completed a complete life-cycle (12 animals X  5 elements) and began living on borrowed time.

Here's part of the meal Ju-Ju tried to dispatch me with on my 60th:

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Hmmm, Ju Ju is a good woman as I think I saw chicken with the head and feet on a platter. She had 12 dishes. Is that traditional? So, tell us what everything is!

[Gary Soup]

Hmmm, Ju Ju is a good woman as I think I saw chicken with the head and feet on a platter. She had 12 dishes. Is that traditional?  So, tell us what everything is! 

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There were more dishes coming, definitely a soup and an obligatory noodle dish, and I think more hot dishes (My SIL and MIL were also chipping in on kithcen duties). They may have been shooting for "8 Cold Dishes and 8 Hot Dishes". From the fuzzy picture (taken with my trusty old 0.8 megapixel Fujifilm DX-10) and my fuzzy sexagenarian memory), the dishes were, beginning with the outer circle, clockwise from bottom left:

- Cantonese roast duck (store-bought)

- Spring Rolls

- Kaofu

- Soy sauce chicken (duck?) wings

- ?? Crystal Shrimp?

- Jellyfish salad

- lap cheong

- Shanghai "egg rolls"

- Pork and bamboo shoot slivers (maybe "yuxiang" flavor)

Inner circle, clockwise from bottom:

- Dungeness crab (steamed, probably ginger-scallion or ginger garlic prep)

- "White-cooked" Chicken

- Steamed fish

One of the dipping sauces was for the chicen, the other for the crab.

Edited October 12, 2004 by Gary Soup (log)

[Hest88]

Damn Gary! My admiration for your wife just continues to grow!