What’s more satisfying than a bowl of soup: hot or cold, light or hearty, smooth or chunky. You can make extra to freeze for future quick meals and recipes needn’t be too precise, they’re a great way to use up what’s on hand, so be inspired to add your own touch to my favourite soup recipes.
Caldo Verde(Portuguese Green Soup) Most Portuguese meals, especially dinner, start with soup; many are thick and hearty, using whatever produce is on hand. Caldo verde, meaning literally green broth, is one of the most popular. It’s traditionally made with a local dark green cabbage called galega, closely related to kale which is a good substitute. […]
Hot & Sour Prawn Soup Hot and sour soups are a classic on Thai menus. Although the version containing prawns, dtom yam gung, is perhaps the best known in Australia, ‘dtom’ simply means to boil and ‘yam’ to mix or toss together and these soups can be as basic or as complex as you care […]
Hearty corn soup is popular in many parts of the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados … this is my take on the Bajan (Barbadian) version inspired by one Paul Carmichael told me about; I enjoy the three different textures of corn. Bajan corn soup often contains pumpkin or sweet potato, which I find a […]
Rasam This spicy, tangy southern Indian soup is a great start to any meal served with some crisp papadums; it’s also fun in shot glasses for a cocktail party. It’s traditionally served as a light meal over steamed rice, especially to people who are feeling poorly. Rasam means ‘juice’ or ‘essence’ in Tamil and the […]
Every culture seems to have a chicken soup that’s the universal panacea, and in Vietnam it’s cháo gà. Similar to Chinese congee, it’s generally a breakfast dish – often served with omelette. It can be quite bland, if that’s what you want, and it’s traditionally served to anyone who’s feeling poorly, especially with a cold […]
Hainanese Chicken Rice I’ve always loved this dish, especially the delicious ginger and green onion sauce, so I thought I’d give it a try and discovered it’s surprisingly easy (especially with a few tips from the brilliant Tony Tan). It takes a few hours, but most of that is just resting time. There are a […]
German Potato & Chervil Soup is traditionally eaten on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday which celebrates the Last Supper; in German this day is also known as Gründonnerstag (‘green Thursday’). Some traditional recipes thicken it with an egg yolk and serve it with chopped hard-boiled egg stirred through; I like to add a […]
Chicken Avgolemono Soup Avgolemono is a classic Greek combination of egg (avgo), lemon (lemono) and stock to create a tangy soup or sauce. As a soup it’s usually made from chicken stock with rice cooked in it, a typical example of peasant cuisine where nothing is wasted (the meat from the chicken bones added back […]
La Ribollita The famous Tuscan soup, Ribollita, is a classic example of delicious cucina povera (peasant cooking). The name literally means ‘reboiled’ as it was created to use up leftover beans and vegetables cooked for Friday, the fast day when no meat was eaten. On Saturday, they were turned into a hearty soup with stale […]
Soup, bread, cheese: three of my favourite comfort foods. I especially love French onion soup because it combines all three! Beef stock is considered the traditional base, but I’ve also successfully used chicken stock or even just water. If you use the stock leftover from poaching veal for vitello tonnato, the vinegar cuts through some […]
