What makes a good soup?

[scubascuba3]

32 minutes ago, msbkk said:

You can do a stew instead with meat, potatoes and veggies.

What's the secret ingredient for that to taste nice? salt?

[Terrance8812]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

What's the secret ingredient for that to taste nice? salt?

I don't think it's a secret ingredient. I think it's a mixture of all the flavors from all the ingredients blending together during a long, slow cooking time that gives it such a nice taste.

[scubascuba3]

7 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Its all about the stock. Thats an art form.

give us some tips on the stock?

[novacova]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

give us some tips on the stock?

Cow bones 

[Terrance8812]

A friend of mine used to make incredible beef stews using some of the cheapest cuts of beef. She’d cut the meat up small, throw it into a pressure cooker with a load of vegetables, everything needed for a nice, filling meal, and just let it go for a few hours. She always said it was effortless, and even the lower quality cuts turned out great. The long, pressure cooking made the meat tender, and all that fat gave the broth a rich, deep flavor.

[Yagoda]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

give us some tips on the stock?

1. start with cold water

2. remove the scum

3. Time is your friend

 

I have been making Pork Bone soup recentlly. I buy bones or even better, a leg. Rinse, put in cold water to cover, boil 5 minutes, drain, rinse, add cold water, boil, toss in a hunk of gigger, half an onion, kaffir lime, lemongrass, whole garli cloves. Simmer for 4 hours, take out the leg, strip the meat, toss the bones and inedibles back in and boil hard for two hours adding boiling water as needed. Strain broth add meat back and add veggies, chopped garlic and ginger and onion etc. I use long beans, mushrooms, loads of carrots, fish sauce etc

[blaze master]

58 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

toss in a hunk of gigger,

 

Sounds yummy 🤣

[Yagoda]

11 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

Sounds yummy 🤣

Nothing beats gigger soup

[DezLez]

35 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Nothing beats gigger soup

I assume that is a spelling error or are you just trying to ginger us all up!!

[msbkk]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

What's the secret ingredient for that to taste nice? salt?

Bouillion cubes (Knorr or similar)

[Yagoda]

2 minutes ago, msbkk said:

Bouillion cubes (Knorr or similar)

Powder is better. 

[marin]

1 minute ago, msbkk said:

Bouillion cubes (Knorr or similar)

No!! Never filled with salt.

 

The key is your stock. Chicken, Beef, Pork, even seafood  Simmer the bones and whats left in water, with maybe some onion and garlic, but not to much you want the bone flavor with the gelatin. 3 hours minimum. You can bag it up and freeze it for future use. Low heat just simmering, if you can even more time yields even better stock. Use the stock for the base of your soup. Add everything to that. 

[msbkk]

13 minutes ago, marin said:

No!! Never filled with salt.

 

The key is your stock. Chicken, Beef, Pork, even seafood  Simmer the bones and whats left in water, with maybe some onion and garlic, but not to much you want the bone flavor with the gelatin. 3 hours minimum. You can bag it up and freeze it for future use. Low heat just simmering, if you can even more time yields even better stock. Use the stock for the base of your soup. Add everything to that. 

Sure, if you do it the good and slow way. Bouillion cubes are the easy and faster version for lazy amateur cooks. But yes, otherwise I agree with you.

[marin]

8 minutes ago, msbkk said:

Sure, if you do it the good and slow way. Bouillion cubes are the easy and faster version for lazy amateur cooks. But yes, otherwise I agree with you.

If I need flavoring for a gravy and have no stock yes. I use an oven on Sunday morning. Get up throw the stuff in the pot and fire it up. As soon as it boils into the oven at 140 covered. Go out for an hours run come home and check. Log in here while streaming sport and another hour is gone, grab a shower and then one more check. If going out done, If not a little longer.   

[papa al]

Tom yummy.

[Yagoda]

You

13 hours ago, marin said:

No!! Never filled with salt.

 

The key is your stock. Chicken, Beef, Pork, even seafood  Simmer the bones and whats left in water, with maybe some onion and garlic, but not to much you want the bone flavor with the gelatin. 3 hours minimum. You can bag it up and freeze it for future use. Low heat just simmering, if you can even more time yields even better stock. Use the stock for the base of your soup. Add everything to that. 

Thats why you use the powder, for the salt content. You can adjust the amount of powder so it becomes a flavour enhancer, not a base. I dont use salt other than fish sauce or soy sauce.

 

I daresay that all of those tasty Asian dishes we all love have a smidgen of the powder. Hell, they sell it 5 kilos at a pop

[marin]

^ We do not cook the same at all. Simple

[amexpat]

On 6/22/2025 at 1:05 PM, MalcolmB said:

MSG. adds a lot of flavor 

I can't find MSG anywhere. Maybe you know the Thai name for it? thx

[marin]

3 minutes ago, amexpat said:

I can't find MSG anywhere. Maybe you know the Thai name for it? thx

Its everywhere, here you go.

 

 

[terryq]

4 minutes ago, amexpat said:

I can't find MSG anywhere. Maybe you know the Thai name for it? thx

 

It's just called 'Ajinomoto' , after the manufacturer.

 

 

[Magictoad]

Turtles 

[LosLobo]

15 minutes ago, amexpat said:

I can't find MSG anywhere. Maybe you know the Thai name for it? thx

The Thai word for MSG (monosodium glutamate) is:

ผงชูรส  pronounced: phǒng chuu-rót.

[novacova]

13 minutes ago, marin said:

Its everywhere, here you go.

 

 

This garbage is banned from our house and food.

[marin]

5 minutes ago, novacova said:

This garbage is banned from our house and food.

We dont use it either. I was polite enough to answer a simple question. 

[fredwiggy]

23 hours ago, Terrance8812 said:

A friend of mine used to make incredible beef stews using some of the cheapest cuts of beef. She’d cut the meat up small, throw it into a pressure cooker with a load of vegetables, everything needed for a nice, filling meal, and just let it go for a few hours. She always said it was effortless, and even the lower quality cuts turned out great. The long, pressure cooking made the meat tender, and all that fat gave the broth a rich, deep flavor.

My dad, who did a lot of the cooking in our home,was Polish and made many ethnic meals, some using the pressure cooker. It sure worked well. I didn't care for some of the things he made back then, but later they grew on me and I now realize what good ethnic food is. He made corned beef and cabbage, which I used to call corned beef and garbage until I knew better. Stock was always used, along with certain spices, which makes normal ingredients of any kind into a good soup. His beef stew was also killer, as was the 7 bean soup. 

 

My godfather was Sicilian, and his parents were from Sicily, and I remember her homemade sauce still being the best I've ever had to this day. Cooked all day for the St. Joseph's Day celebration.

 

A last thing about the pressure cooker. One day my dad was making something in it and I remember it exploding, with much of what was in the pot hitting, and sticking to the kitchen ceiling.

[Jake44]

Shrimp, mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, fish sauce, and chillies.

 

[Keeps]

34 minutes ago, LosLobo said:

The Thai word for MSG (monosodium glutamate) is:

ผงชูรส  pronounced: phǒng chuu-rót.

Just shouted that at the Mrs which startled her a bit but she knew exactly what I was talking about so thanks for the clear explanation.

 

She now thinks I have some weird form of tourettes.

[Keeps]

I enjoy a basic soup of chicken, onion, potato and carrot with the Stock flavoured by the basic curry powder you get here in Thailand. See it in many Thai restaurants and often described as Indian flavoured soup. Doesn't usually have the carrots in it in the restaurants.

 

I often make it back in the UK and throw just a handful of rice in to make it a little more substantial but still a soup rather than a curry. 

[Yagoda]

47 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Cooked all day for the St. Joseph's Day celebration.

I was fortunate enough to know Sicilians too. One of the greatest culinary events of all time.

[Yagoda]

31 minutes ago, Jake44 said:

Shrimp, mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, fish sauce, and chillies.

 

Sounds like Mae Ploy