Thick Soup General Guideline

Cooking

When cooking your soup, add vegetables at staggered intervals, according to cooking time. All vegetables do not take the same amount of time to cook. Usually, onions, cabbage, and leeks are sweated first (cooked without colors) then the root vegetables like carrot, turnips, etc.

Stir the soup from time to time throughout the cooking process, to prevent starchy ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot and for best flavor, texture, and appearance. When the flavor is fully developed, and all the ingredients are tender, the soup may be finished or garnished and served right away.

Or it may be cooled and refrigerated. Although some soups develop a more rounded, mellow flavor, it is served the day after they are prepared. No soup benefits from hours on the stove. Not only will the flavor become dull and flat, but the nutritive value will greatly diminish as well.

Adjusting Consistency

Thick soup, especially those made with starchy vegetables or dried beans may continue to thicken during cooking, storage and reheating or holding to hot temperature. ​

As a rule, creams and Bisques are about as thick as cold 33% fat heavy cream (whipping cream) and liquid enough to be poured from a ladle into a bowl. Puréed soups are somewhat thicker.

For a soup that is too thin, a small amount of starch slurry may be added.  Have the soup simmer when the slurry is added, then stir constantly and continue to simmer for a couple of minutes in order to cook the thickening agent.

Adjusting Flavor and Seasoning

Season the soups throughout the cooking process. Meat or poultry glaze may be added to increase the flavor of a weak soup but this will affect the clarity. Chopped fresh herbs, a few drops of lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce or grated citrus zest may be added to brighten a soup’s flavor.

Skimming​​

When the soup is about to boil, you may start to see scum and fat floating and creating forms. With a skimmer or mesh sieve in one hand and the other hand with an empty bowl, start scooping it off and discard it. 

After you pick up the scum, rinse the skimmer or sieve under cold water and continue to scoop the scum. Repeat this operation as needed as the soup might produce more scum during simmering.

Keep the liquid at a simmer rather than a hard boil because it will mix up the scum and cloud the soup. Make sure to skim thoroughly.