Chanice, a friend of mine from South China's Guangdong Province, could immediately give at least five reasons for the well-known Cantonese enthusiasm for soup.

"First of all, cooking soup is a tradition of Cantonese cuisine and this tradition might have a close relationship with the regional climate, which is warm and humid," she explained.

She said many different Chinese herbs are used as ingredients in the soup, combined with meat or vegetables, in order to dispel excessive moisture or heat from the body.

Cantonese cuisine is particularly proud of its various slow-cooked soups, in addition to its excellent presentation and diversity of ingredients and methods of preparation.

Chanice is proud of these special soups, which she said usually take considerable time and effort to make.

"Nearly everything that can be eaten can be put into a Cantonese soup," she said.

This statement seems to be exactly in line with one famous characteristic of Cantonese cuisine, that "anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies is edible."

The last reason she gave, however, sounded somewhat horrible: "As the number of rectal cancer cases grows at a terrible rate in Guangdong, clear broth --especially -- is considered to be good for people's digestion and health," she said.

She taught me quite a lot about Cantonese soup cuisine during our recent visit to a newly opened local restaurant, Cantonese style, which considers soups to be its signature dishes.

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