Clear vegetable soups are made from a clear stock or broth, not necessarily clarified, with the addition of one or more vegetables and, sometimes, meat or poultry and/or pasta or grains. Most vegetable soups are made from meat or poultry stock or broth. Meatless or vegetarian soups are made from vegetable broth or water.
Guidelines for Preparing and Evaluating Vegetable Soups
Procedures for making these soups are not complicated. Most of them are made simply by simmering vegetables in stock until done. But care and attention to details are still necessary for producing a high-quality soup.
These guidelines are also useful as quality factors for evaluating soups. Each of the guidelines is based on a desired quality in the finished soup (for example: flavorful broth, balance of vegetables, garnish neatly cut, and so on).
Start with a clear, flavorful stock or broth.
This is one reason it's important to be able to make stocks that are clear, not cloudy. Generally, vegetable soups are a little cloudier than broths, because the vegetables are generally cooked in the soup. Nevertheless, the broth of the finished soup should be fairly clear.
Select vegetables and other ingredients whose flavors go well together.
Don't just throw in everything you've got. Judgment, combined with experience, must be used to create a pleasing combination. Five or six vegetables are usually enough. More than that often makes a jumble.
Cut vegetables uniformly.
Neat, careful cutting means uniform cooking and attractive appearance. Sizes of cuts are important, too. Pieces should be large enough to be identifiable but small enough to eat conveniently with a spoon.
Cook vegetables slowly in a little butter before combining with liquid.
This process improves the flavor of the vegetables and gives the soup a mellower, richer taste.
Cook starches such as grains and pasta separately and add to the soup later.
Cooking them in the soup makes it cloudy. Potatoes are sometimes cooked directly in the soup, but they should be rinsed of excess starch after cutting if you want to keep the soup as clear as possible.
Observe differences in cooking times.
Add long-cooking vegetables first, short-cooking vegetables near the end. Vegetables that are already fully cooked and hot can be added to the hot soup after it is removed from the fire.
Don't overcook.
Some cooks feel soups must be simmered a long time to extract flavors into the liquid. But you should have already done this when you made the stock. Vegetables in soup should be tender but still firm enough to hold their shapes. Vegetables should show a fresh color and not look like they were cooked too long. This is especially true of green vegetables, which turn olive brown when overcooked.
