Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with soup

Bitter about carrots

Omnomnom — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:01:38 -0800

I made some carrot soup. It has a slightly bitter after taste. Why is that, and can I fix this? Basically, I did to a ton of leftover carrots what I do to all my soup bound veggies:
Cooked carrots and onions and a nugget of ginger in some oil, added water and stock cube, some salt and sugar, simmered until done (but not too soft) and then ran it all through the blender, minus the ginger.

There's a slight but distinct bitter aftertaste that spoils it. I added sugar and it helped a little but I don't really want to add more.

Were my carrots simply too old? Was it the ginger? What did I do wrong and can I fix it?

As long as it doesn't have eye of newt.

zennish — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:38:52 -0800

What are your best broth recipes? Ideally, they'd be flavourful, rich, dairy-free, not stock (meant to be consumed on their own) and can be frozen. I'll try anything from anywhere - though I'm more interested in recipes that hail from outside Asia. I know very little about Eastern European cuisine, for example. Soup/broth with stuff in them (noodles, dumplings etc) also totally count so long as the base is broth.

Basically, your awesome broth recipes: give them to me, please!

Soup Without Canned Broth

Ery — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 11:15:48 -0800

Do you have any recipes for soup that don't require broth or stock? Almost every recipe I can find for soup calls for canned or boxed stock or broth—chicken stock, beef broth, even "vegetable" broth, whatever that is (it seems oddly non-specific to me). I can't use any of these products because the flavor enhancers that are invariably added (MSG, yeast extract, hydrolyzed soy, etc.) trigger migraines for a susceptible individual. Any broth I cook with has to be homemade. No "Better Than Bouillon" or bouillon cubes, no canned or boxed soup. It doesn't matter if they are labeled all-natural or organic: I don't want it if it contains yeast extract.

Making my own stock or broth is a problem because the grocery stores no longer carry cheap bones. Getting to a real butcher or ethnic grocery that carries cheap bones is a big project and not an option right now. Things like turkey necks cost considerably more per pound at our grocery stores than whole chicken thighs do. I'm not going to pay more for the cheap cuts than I do for chicken thighs, that's dumb. However, when I have chicken thighs I make chicken soup. That leaves me with no broth left over to put into other soup recipes. How can I make meatball soup, roasted pumpkin soup, broccoli soup? All of the recipes I can find for soups like that call for canned or boxed broth. Do you have a really good recipe for vegetable broth, or a good recipe for a soup that doesn't require broth? I'm interested in both meat-based and vegetarian recipes.

Stock to Soup

enzymatic — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:52:59 -0800

What's a good soup recipe to make with this yummy home-made chicken stock? I have a pot-ful of chicken stock that I made by boiling a carass with onions and carrots. How do I convert it into delicious chicken soup?

Onion-free, garlic-free, tomato-free tasty soups, please

sillymama — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 21:07:19 -0800

Freezable, tasty soups or stews without onion, garlic or stewed tomatoes. Is this possible? I've started making and freezing soup for workweek lunches. Love! Italian sausage and kale, spicy cabbage soup, chili, chicken taco soup, peanut chicken stew, all so tasty. My husband, however, doesn't get to share in the joy of all the soup ever, because good soups seem to require sauteed onion and garlic as a base and/or the addition of tomatoes in various forms.

The onions and garlic give him indigestion, and we're not sure what the problem is with the tomatoes--possibly the seeds?

I have so far made this carrot and lentil soup which was yummy but not particularly hearty.

Can you please recommend to me your favourite soups and stews that do not require onions, garlic or tinned tomatoes? Slow cooker recipes are also welcome. I have all the necessary kitchen gadgets and a well-stocked spice cupboard.

Best homemade soups!

marimeko — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:59:04 -0800

Please share with me your tried and true, passed down through the ages, made-with-love, illness curing soup recipes! I need recipes for soup! Maybe it's a sentimental favorite. Or the one that contains secret ingredients (!). Whatever it is, it's the soup that you make that always makes people feel better when they are sick.

I ask because my SO is sick with a lingering cold that has gotten worse (he's seeing a Dr. tomorrow) and I want to make him something healthy and yummy today! Thank you!

I wanna eat these leftovers! Just not right now.

catch as catch can — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 13:37:43 -0800

If I freeze this soup, will it be edible once defrosted and warmed up? Difficulty level: squid. Just made really tasty squid soup, using squid that was fresh on the day I bought it and then immediately frozen. Squid spent roughly 3 weeks in the freezer before I defrosted it in the fridge today for the aforementioned delicious soup. A rough ingredients list, in case it's relevant: onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, chickpeas, tomatoes, stock, squid, and stelle pasta.

So my question is twofold:
- presumably reheating the soup fully would negate any possible bacterial nastiness with the squid, right?
- will the veg and pasta just end up turning into a horrid mush if frozen, defrosted, and reheated?

Recipe for spicy frog soup chinese

DDR — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:12:25 -0800

I'm trying to find recipe for spicy frog soup I had in Shanghai. It looked similar to this

http://blogs.gonomad.com/roundworldphoto/2010/05/shanghai-spicy-frog-soup.html

Lots of peppers and a red broth. Best soup I've ever had.

fish heads. soup.

saraindc — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 02:15:27 -0800

help me make a soup using what's sitting around in my fridge and freezer I would like to use the 4 bonito fish heads I have sitting in my freezer (the bodies were cooked up yesterday) along with the very large bag of vegetable scraps I've been gathering in my freezer to make some sort of fantastic broth that I then turn into a simple and tasty soup using other ingredients I have on hand.

For what it's worth the vegetable scraps I have in the bag in the freezer are mostly onion, onion skin, garlic skin, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and bell peppers.

Other ingredients in my fridge/pantry are: onions, potatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, tomatoes, garlic, mild long green peppers, rice (medium grain, as well as basmati), egg pasta, other pasta shapes (nothing too small though, smallest is the rotini), flour, red lentils, chickpeas (frozen in the freezer), diced raw frozen chicken breast, frozen ground beef, two pounds of frozen sardines (not sure if I was supposed to freeze those but anyway...), low fat milk, tomato paste, red bell pepper paste, pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, tuna canned in oil, soy sauce, vegetable oil.

spices on hand: salt, black pepper, red chili powder, tumeric, coriander powder, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper corns, cloves, some basil (actually I might've run out, but willing to go get some more), powdered ginger. I think that's about it.

Please advise me cooks of askme!

It can be time consuming, but I would rather not use a blender or hand blender.

if you'd like to suggest other recipes using the above ingredients, besides soup, they'd also be welcome! These ingredients are literally all we eat these days besides fruits, other veggies occasionally, and sometimes bread. We've eaten out maybe twice in last month.

Thank you :)

Help me make southwestern corn chowder

escabeche — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:07:40 -0800

In about an hour I will be making a southwestern corn chowder for my family without a well-defined recipe. Help me do it right. I have a bunch of fresh summer corn, and two recipes for corn chowder which I am in some sense planning to combine: this one and this one. I don't need it to taste exactly like either of these recipes; I just want it to be good. Other wrinkles: 1. I have a fresh jalapeno I thought I'd use. But I don't want the soup to be really spicy, just to have a little generalized heat; if I saute half a jalapeno without ribs or seeds in with the onions, which then gets simmered in the soup, will that be about right? 2. I have sweet potatoes but no white potatoes. Will they have the same thickening properties? (I know they taste different, obviously, but I'm fine with my chowder tasting like sweet potatoes.) 3. If I use cumin and garlic, as second recipe suggests, with fresh jalapeno instead of chili powder, should I skip the thyme from the first recipe, or will those be good together?

Or feel free to tell me killer tips for making southwestern corn chowder that don't appear in these recipes, if you have any! My family will thank you.

How healthy is my seemingly healthy soup diet?

the foreground — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:54:20 -0800

Just how healthy is my Chunky Campell's Vegetable soup? I've taken to eating a lot more canned soup lately, which at roughly $3/meal (or less on sale) seems like a good alternative to the expensive salad bars in my office's neighborhood. The soup is filling and the ones I choose are packed with vegetables.

Therein lies my question: just what type of trade off am I making here with regards to the health benefits of those carrots, peas, green beans etc. that I eat in my soup rather than eating them fresh?

I realize fresh is typically better and there might be other health trade-offs in the soup I'm buying, such as high levels of salt (?). Aside from that I really know next to nothing about nutrition, so just looking for some guidance.

Bonus question: If there's a way to replicate this kind of soup at home in a healthier way and at a lower or similar cost, I would love your recipes. Thanks!

Hot soups for hot weather?

The Whelk — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:23:37 -0800

I'm good with winter soups, I'm good with cold summer soups, but can't seem to find a hot summer soup I like. Send me your simmering summer soup solutions. No allergies/restrictions aside from a general dislike of most seafood.

Help me find the best pairings for a cup of smoky tomato soup

fake — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 11:09:25 -0800

I am cooking a smoky, dark and delicious tomato soup for a friend of mine. Please suggest suitable savory side suggestions that don't involve bread or sugar - meat/cheese combos, odd things like dried figs/cheese, etc. We're into spicy, strange, and combination foods. Extra points if I can find the items at Mexican markets, Armenian markets, or Trader Joes.

What To Do With Pea Soup Paste?

The Whelk — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:35:43 -0800

Super Concentrated Soup? So I made split pea and pesto with pork soup two nights ago and I made too much. It also sat on low for a bit too long and is now a thick green paste. What do I do with it? Is it still safe to eat? Can i do anything to it besides adding water and making more soup? How best can I use these leftovers? The soup itself was just split peas on low heat with stock and water, lime juice, pesto, and some previously cooked pork cubes. Its in a bowl under tin foil in the fridge.

How do I make hot and sour soup?

griphus — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:00:26 -0800

I want to make hot and sour soup, except there are two difficulties: I'm not sure how to shop for Southeast/East Asian ingredients and I can't eat hot peppers. So, I've always been fond of hot and sour soups, usually in Chinese restaurants. The other day, we got take-out Thai food (if it matters, it was Thai Tony's in Ft. Hamilton, Brooklyn) and I ordered the tom yum kung. And it was fantastic. Seriously, I haven't had soup that great in a long time. Sour, and lemongrassy, and with a nice kick but, surprisingly, no capsaicin burn. Which is good because I can't do capsaicin without having horrible gut problems.

So, now I want to make some, but all the recipes have ingredients I'm not sure how to purchase and involve hot peppers in some form or another. I can have a bit, but definitely not the amount people advise in something caled "hot and sour soup." I live in a neighborhood with a signifanct Chinese immigrant population, so getting ingredients won't be a problem. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to pick out stuff like kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and galangal, much less what to substitute for hot chili paste to keep in the kick.

So does anyone have a good, non-spicy recipe (or a good subsitute for the flavor of chili paste) and some advice on how to pick the ingredients you generally don't find in a run-of-themill grocery store? The recipe doesn't have to be for tom yung, specifically, although I did enjoy that one more than the viscous Chinese version I was used to. Extra points for vegetarian recipes. I am genuinely terrible at cooking, but my vegetarian girlfriend isn't and it would be nice if she could partake in what she's going to have a major hand in cooking.

What is this awesome Chinese fish soup?

Afroblanco — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:33:32 -0800

What was this awesome Chinese fish soup I used to get in NYC? BONUS QUESTION : where can I find it in the Bay area? So, I used to see this Chinese fish soup EVERYWHERE in NYC, but I haven't seen it anywhere in the Bay area.

It featured a sweet, mild white fish. Whole pieces of the fillet, not fish balls. The broth was clear and a bit sour. There was some kind of vegetable in it : crunchy, kind of the same texture as a bamboo shoot, only thicker. It may or may not have been served with rice. I don't recall the presence of noodles. Typically would be served in a big bowl for two or more people.

I miss this awesome soup! What is it and where can I find it? Or can you recommend a recipe so that I can make it myself?

Got recipes for informal dinner gatherings?

feets — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:59:25 -0800

Seeking yummy vegetarian entrees that don't need to be eaten immediately after cooking. I'm having a lot of informal gatherings at my house -- folks showing up in a three-hour window around the dinner hour.

Since people aren't all sitting down at the same time, a lot of recipes won't work. (Anything that says "serve immediately" -- i.e. french onion soup or spaghetti -- is out.) So far I've tried quiche, corn chowder, tortilla soup, and bean/barley soup, and have been thinking about trying tamales, lasagna, and tom kha soup.

This is where you come in: I'm looking for inspiration. Do you know a great veggie soup recipe? Or ideas for other veggie entrees that can survive a couple hours on the hob? I don't mind if the cooking process takes a long time.

Thanks, Mefi!

p.s. Cookbook recommendations, veg or non-veg, would be cool too. I am just beginning my exploration of this world of cooking. So far I've been getting a big kick out of A New Way To Cook and Wild Fermentation.

Vegetable Beef Soup Recipes

Silvertree — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:20:49 -0800

What is your favorite recipe for vegetable beef Soup? It is cold. I would like to make vegetable beef soup and I don't have a great recipe handy. What are your favorites? I am thinking something traditional but I am really open to about anything. Stew recipes are OK too.

A woman cannot live on chili alone: what are some hearty low-carb soups and stews?

mercredi — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:35:16 -0800

What are tasty, low-carb soups and stews that keep and re-heat well? I'm working on bringing lunch to work this winter, and while I love chili and chicken tortilla soup, I really need to expand my choices.

My goals are:
- can be made ahead and reheated, so no delicate soups

- low(er) carb, not bean-centric (I'm not trying to go totally primal/paleo, but I'm looking for something other than primarily bean/lentil soups. Beans as an ingredient among others is ok)

- contain a decent amount of protein/fat so that they keep me full til dinner.

[I've seen this post, but the options are mostly lighter and/or don't keep well]

Traveling with frozen soup.

bquarters — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:11:10 -0800

Can I fly domestically carrying frozen soup? I know a similiar question has been asked before but I am not transporting shrimp, lobsters or ice cream. I just want to pack frozen homemade soup and have it with me when I land. Thawed, semi-frozen or however it ends up as long as it doesn't leak in my suitcase. I'm flying with AA. Yes I should call but being on hold gives me an instant headache. So instead I am going to ask you, the good people of metafilter. Any experience/inside information? Carry on vs in luggage? Leakproof container suggestions? But mainly, is it an issue?

Japanese 7-eleven soup?

Iax — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:18:57 -0800

Last December I was in Japan and I enjoyed the 7-Eleven soup they had. Pretty much all the 7-11's had the same soup, in a stand usually by the cash register, they would have other stuff you could add to the soup; fish balls, meat on sicks, noodles, ect... The soup would be already hot and you served yourself. My questions is what is that called? And where could I get something like it in Vancouver, BC?

Delicious uses for duck stock, please.

alleycat01 — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:28:42 -0800

What delicious soup (or dish) should I make with duck stock? This Thanksgiving, I successfully roasted my first duck (yay!) and rendered out lots of gorgeous golden fat (double yay!). Yesterday I made stock from the carcass, and today I want to continue the trend by making a tasty, hearty wintery soup using some of it.

However, I found surprisingly few recipes online -- they all seem to either be recipes for making the stock, recipes that call for the entire duck in the soup, or not-so-precise comments like "just use it instead of chicken stock."

That's where the good people of the green come in. Give me your favorite soup or stew (or other dish) recipes using duck stock! I already have a great Chinese noodle soup recipe, so I'd prefer something more "western" -- like with white beans, or lentils, or ... mushrooms?

I did find this chowhound thread, which I'm considering although I have no idea what I'd do with the rest of a jar of red currant jelly, but wanted y'all's thoughts first. Thanks, all!

The continuing saga of "Can I Eat This," microwave division

Sweetie Darling — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:26:26 -0800

Left the metal pop-top on the soup can when I microwaved it for lunch. I think the microwave is ok, but the really important question is: Can I eat the soup? Confession: I went to the bathroom after I hit the Start button so I don't know exactly what went on for that minute or so, but when I came back it was still cooking and not sparking or smoking.

It's a plastic tub with a metal pop-top lid, similar to Campbell's soup-at-hand. I popped the corner of the plastic top to vent it, but didn't notice that it was sealed. I've scanned all the earlier AskMe microwave questions, including When is it ok to microwave metal?, but they all seem to be more concerned with the oven than the food.

(Please note, and I say this with love, my question is "Can I safely eat this?", not "Would you eat it?" because I've been here a while and a lot of MeFis will eat just about anything.)

Thanks for your quick responses. I'm starving!

Soup Ideas for Leftovers?

rapidadverbssuck — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:54:43 -0800

What kind of soup should I make with leftover Italian pot roast? I made an Italian pot roast with red onions, celery, red wine, olive oil, and plum tomatoes. After eating the roast, there remains ample broth which I would like to make into a soup. What should I add to the onions, celery, and tomatoes? Bonus points for low-carb options.

Tomato Soup Recipe from Bread restaurant in nyc

mjcon — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:22:50 -0800

A couple years ago I ate at a restaurant called Bread in NYC. I believe this is the restaurant. They had mindblowingly awesome tomato soup. Do you know the recipe this restaurant uses? I remember it being a little more marinara sauce-like than other tomato soups. I just made a soup very similar to this, which is good, but not the same. Has anyone had the soup from Bread? Any ideas how it is made?