Soup for the soul

Friend brought nutritious veg soup, triggering urge for more. Pioneer's Flavours of China, crispy meatballs, fried pork slices, Fish Ball Soup, Ichiban's Chicken Soup, Fa Yian Special Soup, Burma Burma Khao Suey, Mohinga Noodle Soup - soups bring joy to plain meals, aiding recuperation.

I was out of sorts for a while, so a friend came with a bowl of delicious vegetable soup. It was nutritious, brimming with noodles, broccoli, carrots, walnuts and some cheese; and triggered an urge for some more soups —with noodles in them. The thing about a noodle-filled soup is that it comes with its share of carbs. You do not need to have bread or breadsticks with it, and the soup can be treated as a full meal — with adequate carbs, proteins and other nutrients.

Some friends had been raving about Pioneer’s Flavours of China in Connaught Place, which now has a new management. I looked at their menu, and was tempted to dig into crispy meatballs served with chilli and garlic sauce and fried pork slices with a dipping sauce. But the strictures read out to me daily by friends and family made me turn to the soup section.

I ordered a bowl of fish ball soup with glass noodles and greens and it arrived well sealed and still hot.The broth was light and fragrant, and the fish balls — prepared with river sole — were soft, yet firm, and had a light taste that was most appealing. There were some crunchy greens in the soup, complementing the soft fish balls.

Buoyed by this wholesome meal, I looked up Ichiban’s chicken soup — minced chicken broth with bean thread noodles, broccoli, mushroom and baby corn, but ended up ordering from Fa Yian, another of my favourite restaurants. The Fa Yian special soup was full of glorious stuff. Plump pieces of prawns and chicken enhanced the broth, thickened with egg drops, and garnished with noodles. These soups were particularly appetising because the broth was light, and the flavours were not too strong.

The khao suey that came from Burma Burma was equally light and nourishing. The soupy dish — flavoured with lemon grass — was delightful. The coconut milk gave the vegetable broth some body, but was light enough for the weather. It came with crushed peanuts, burnt garlic, coriander leaves and green chillies and had noodles. I placed a helping of noodles in my bowl, ladled in the vegetable broth, and garnished it with the toppings.

Soups bring joy to plain meals that supposedly aid recuperation. I intend to order Burma Burma’s Mohinga noodle soup (with lemongrass-infused lentils, banana stem and rice vermicelli) and Flavours of China’s special soup with noodles, veggies, mushroom and seafood.

It is quite a change, I must say, from being in a soup, to having a soup in me.