soup boiling is one of the common cooking skills especially in the Chinese community. We drink soup almost every day. Soup is effective in treating a cold or fever. Here are some important points on how to cook a pot of good Chinese herbal soup.  

First, blanch the meat in boiling water briefly. The reason of this is to remove the froth and blood of the meat. By doing this, the soup will be clear and clean. The lean meat from the front leg of the pork is preferable for soup boiling as it can be boiled for few hours and the meat still remain tender. In order to make fish soup, clean the fish with some lemon and pan fried both side of the fish. The reason of doing this is to get rid of the fishy smell and avoid the fish from breaking up while boiling. The other important point is not to add in the salt at the early stage of soup. Salt is able to permeable into the meat and release the moisture and at the same time speed up the solidification of protein.

This will affect the freshness and tastiness of the soup. Do not lift up the lid unnecessarily when boiling a soup in order to maintain the temperature and to ensure the quality of the soup. Do not add water in the middle of the boiling process. If the soup is drying up and you really need to add water, add only hot water. The level of heat used when boiling soup is important. Firstly, bring the soup to boil over high heat (5-10 minutes) then switch to low heat and simmer it for 1-2 hours (depending the amount of meat and water).  

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