More Soup For Your Money

Do you remember how everyone used to talk about getting chicken noodle soup whenever they were sick? It was basically the go-to food for anyone who ever mentioned even having the sniffles; IRL and on TV. It’s so embedded into our culture that there are cans upon cans of different types of soups in the supermarket. Don’t be mistaken though, those cans of soup are never going to be better than you making it yourself at home with nothing but water, a pot, and various ingredients.

While those cans might be “easy on the stomach” because soup is a liquid and it contains the minerals and nutrients from what was simmering in it, those cans require a much higher amount of sodium and potentially a bunch of processed ingredients to help increase their shelf-life. Even with that in mind, those canned soups are still better for your than the other pre-packaged goods or taking a bunch of medication you don’t need for the majority of common illnesses.

What’s So Good About Soup Anyway?

What makes soup such a great method of healing your body? The answer is the density of nutrition that is packed into a well-made soup, aka the broth. When you boil ingredients such as proteins or vegetables, the vitamins and minerals are extracted from them and become one with the soup. So every sip you take of that soup is essentially a condensed version of all of the goodness in the ingredients you used.

Imagine being sick and not having the energy to really do anything. Eating just about anything becomes a chore, let alone eating a full meal to reconsitute your body. A good soup will give you the nutrition you need with the minimal effort needed to ingest it. Depending on the soup, it can also help alleviate some of the symptons you’re feeling such as nausea, inflammation, poor blood circulation and more.

“Souper” Easy to Make, Hard to Master

The basic principal of soup is to simmer a bunch of stuff in a pot. The longer you simmer the ingredients, the more nutrition you get out of the ingredients. Have you noticed that if you simmer everything long enough, it all becomes mush? That’s due to the cellular breakdown of the ingredients which means you’ve extracted everything you could from it. When you think about it, the mushier the ingredients get, the more densely nutritious the soup will be!

However, mushy things in your soup isn’t exactly appetitizing to most folks. So unless you plan strain the soup so that all you have is the broth sans the mush, you’ll want to time how long you simmer the soup so that you have something to chew on instead of just liquid.

Realistically though, having something to chew on isn’t as important as drinking the nutritient dense liquid and you can always add new ingredients to the broth when plating your dish. A great example of that would be one of the best comfort foods from Vietnamese culture, the beef broth pho (rice noodle soup). If you’ve ever had it, you know just how amazing it is at warming up your body and soul.

The greatest part about soup is that it’s nearly impossible to burn it. Unlike cooking other things, it’ll never get burnt as long as there’s water in the pot. You essentially put the ingredients in, heat it until it boils, lower the heat so that it becomes a steady simmer, and leave it alone until it’s ready. For an even easier time, invest in an Instant Pot so you don’t have to worry about watching the fire or having all of the water evaporate away. Not to mention, the Instant Pot will significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to extract the nutrients from your ingredients.

Secrets of Soup-Making

The biggest factor in soup-making is the ingredients you use. If you only use vegetables, you’ll never achieve the same nutrition as if you used just meat. But if you use only meat, you’ll never achieve the complex taste that you’d get from also using vegetables. A combination of both (and also some herbs and spices) will give you the best smelling, tasting, and nutritious soup.

Choosing the right ingredients can be tough. There’s the classic combination of chicken, carrots, onion, and celery; And then there’s the more complex medicinal soups which contain chicken, pork, ginger, dried yam, astralagus root, codonopsis root, dried longan, dried red dates, goji berries, and dried lotus seeds. Luckily though, you don’t need to go as complex as a medicinal soup to still get an incredibly nutritious broth.

Soups Across Cultures

With something as simple as throwing a bunch of things into a pot of hot water, it’s no wonder why the majority of cultures across the world have multiple recipes for different types of soups. Since it’s both easy and nutritious, it was commonly available regardless of your social class or the amount of wealth you had. Making soup from scarce materials was a great way to feed a larger group of people.

Ancient civilizations had soup, medieval kingdoms had soup, modern day society has soup, and we’ll have soup in the future as well. Soups can even be turned into stews, porridges, gravy, and demi-glaze. It’s a timeless dish that has proven to be a staple in fueling and healing our bodies.

Tips to Help You Make Better Soups

• Always use at least one animal protein. Animal proteins contain a ton of nutrition which is what you want in your soup. Using some type of meat will also give it a much better flavor profile in addition to the explosive nutritional benefits. If you’re a strict vegetarian or vegan, then you’ll just have to miss out on these benefits.
• Use aromatic vegetables like onions, garlic, celery, leeks, ginger, and bay leaves. Adding these to your soup will increase the flavor profile, creating a more complex taste without overusing spices and other seasonings.
• Use the right amount of water depending on how many ingredients you have. I usually add just enough water to cover the ingredients in the pot. Any more and you’ll water-down the soup, giving it a milder flavor profile. Any less and you might not be able to extract all of the nutrients from your ingredients efficiently. If you’re unsure, add less water initially; You can always add more water, but you can never remove it.
• If you’re using ingredients that you don’t want to leave in the soup (or ones you just can’t eat like lemongrass, bay leaves, or cinnamon sticks), buy some cheesecloth drawstring bags to make it easier to pull them out when you’ve simmered the soup for long enough.
• If you’re short on time or just want an easier time, invest in an Instant Pot with a soup/broth setting so that you can be minimally involved with managing the heat level while also significantly reducing the cook time.
• Pick your ingredients depending on the benefits you want. For better skin and sleep, using more collagen dense ingredients like oxtail, chicken feet, or pork trotters. For better blood circulation, use offal (e.g. liver, kidneys, and hearts), rice wine, garlic, ginger, or goji berries. For anti-inflammatory benefits, use ingredients like ginger, garlic, turmeric, and onions. The amount of ingredients and combinations are almost endless; Do some research to see what you may want to add depending on your goals.