THE ART OF THE CANTONESE SOUP

Traditional and fusion cooking styles, regional and international ingredients and a new awareness of healthy eating are all factors contributing to an exciting time for Chinese cuisine. Pauline D Loh explores the possibilities.

Heat tires the body. Humidity adds to the stress. When summer days get longer and hotter, the most nourishing meal is a pot of soup, lovingly cooked and full of goodness. No one understands that better than the Cantonese housewife, who has an encyclopedic collection of soups for every occasion, and for all weathers. Summer soups will be light, but full of ingredients that will chase away the effects of humid vapors, such as herbal ingredients like dried Chinese yam, Chinese jujubes, ginseng or angelica root. Certain ingredients are paired so that one can act as a detox cleanser, while the other replenishes nutrients.

Old cucumber pork marrow bones soup