Soups

Many Chinese soups, made mainly with leafy vegetables or gourds, are very thin and watery; others, made mainly with meat or poultry, are like consommés.

In southern China, where the climate is sub-tropical and the heat and humidity so oppressive they sap the appetite, the watery, clear type of soup is the daily fare. Even today, when people at both ends of the social scale drink beer, and serving wine with a meal is considered quite a smart thing to do, especially among city people who are exposed to Western culture, a bowl of thin broth is still considered the best beverage to accompany rice. It is often served at the beginning of the meal ‘to wet the mouth’, as the saying goes, or it may be served simultaneously with the meal. In the latter case, a bowl of soup is simply placed next to the rice bowl, so that the diner can have spoonfuls of soup to go with the rice, in much the same way as one may sip wine with food. Sometimes, at the end of the meal, more of this watery broth is served as an aid to digestion.