Amidst seasonal changes and sore throats, who wouldn’t want a bowl of hot soup in the evenings? It also perfectly fits the role of a filler or precursor to an exotic dinner, or can even work as a complete meal by itself.

To bring out the best in soups, accompaniments like toasted garlic bread or croissants are served. Simple garnishes like chopped mint, coriander, parsley or celery, grated cheese, cream or even beaten eggs are used to enhance the flavour of the soup. Here are recipes of some exotic soups
for you.

Chicken and noodle soup (chinese)

Ingredients: ½ cup boiled egg noodles, ¾ cup chicken (boiled and shredded), 2 tbsp mushroom (chopped), 5 cups chicken stock, 1 tbsp cabbage (finely chopped), 3 cloves garlic (crushed), 1 tbsp oil, 2 tsp vinegar, ½ tsp white pepper powder, ¼ tsp ajinomoto, 1 whole red chilli (deseeded and shredded), salt to taste.

Method: Heat oil in a pan. Add crushed garlic and stir fry. Add mushroom, cabbage, chicken and shredded chilli. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and stir in the noodles. Simmer for 5 minutes on low fire. Add ajinomoto, white pepper powder, salt and vinegar. Serve hot.

Tangy tomato soup

Ingredients: 1 kg tomato, 1 tsp capsicum (chopped), 1 tsp spring onion (chopped), 1 tsp beans (finely chopped), 1 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp white sauce, 1 tbsp cheese (grated), 4 tsp
sugar, 1 tsp chilli sauce, ½ tsp pepper powder, salt to taste.

Method: Wash, chop and boil the tomatoes in 1 cup of water. Blend in the mixer, and strain the pulp. Add 3 cups of water and the sugar, and boil for 5 minutes. In a separate pan, sauté the chopped vegetables in butter for 3-4 minutes. Add them to the boiling soup, and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Remove from fire and cool.
Stir in the white sauce till the two are well mixed. Add salt, pepper and chilli sauce. Serve piping hot, garnished with finely grated cheese.

Tom yum gai soup (Thai)

Ingredients: ¾ cup very small pieces of boneless chicken, 5 cups chicken stock, 1 tsp ginger strips, ¼ cup peanuts (roasted and finely ground), 2 inch long lemon grass stem, 1 tbsp basil leaves (chopped), 5 pepper corns, 2 tsp coriander leaves, 4 garlic cloves, 1 green chilli (finely chopped), salt.

Method: Grind together

pepper corn, coriander leaves, green chilli and garlic cloves to make a paste. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the paste and chicken. Saute for 5 minutes. Add stock, ginger strips, ground peanuts, lemon grass, basil leaves and salt. Simmer on low flame till the chicken is tender. Serve hot.