The Soup Families

Before you start, picture the soup you want to sit down to, and let that guide you. There are three main types — brothy, chunky or puréed. No matter the kind, all soups follow a similar path to deliciousness: Aromatics and main ingredients go into a pot, a liquid is added and the whole thing is simmered until done.

Brothy soups, like egg drop, consommé or matzoh ball, are best made right after you’ve cooked up a batch of homemade stock. Restraint is an essential ingredient; the best brothy soups taste clean and allow the nuanced flavors of a long-simmered stock to stand out. Keep it simple: Use a high proportion of liquid and limit how many, and how much of, other ingredients you add into the pot.

On the other hand, black bean soup, chowder, minestrone or any other chunky soup is defined by transformation. Flavors develop, vegetables soften, liquids reduce and starches thicken. As these soups simmer, their varied ingredients — choose three or four from the list of vegetables, grains, legumes, or bits of meat — coalesce into a whole that’s inexplicably greater, and more delicious, than the sum of its parts.

A puréed soup, such as a bisque, creamy tomato soup, or vichyssoise, is the paragon of refinement. Yet it’s deceptively simple to make. Start with a base of onions, then add one or two main ingredients and just enough liquid to cover. Simmer gently until done, then blend, taste and adjust the seasonings. Soon you’ll start to see the potential for a smooth, silky soup hidden within every vegetable and legume.

The Aromatics and Seasonings

Now that you’ve chosen your soup, you’ll want to start building its foundation. Choose a cooking fat based on the cuisine that inspired your choice: butter for a French soup, olive oil for an Italian one. And use the same thinking to select an aromatic base of chopped vegetables, whether versatile garlic and onions, classic mirepoix, Italian soffritto, or Southeast Asian shallots and ginger. (Need help chopping? Here’s our knife skills guide.) Then, select your seasonings, sticking to three or fewer to keep from muddying flavors.

• For a basic aromatic foundation, heat 4 tablespoons of a neutral-tasting oil, like grapeseed or peanut, or olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add 2 diced medium yellow onions and a generous pinch of salt. (If you want to work in a little meatiness, start the pot off with 4 ounces finely diced bacon or pancetta and 2 tablespoons of water over low heat. When the water is gone and the meat is rendered, reduce the oil to 2 tablespoons and continue as above.) Stirring occasionally, cook until the onions are tender and the meat is just starting to brown. Add 3 cloves thinly sliced garlic and cook for another 20 seconds, just until the garlic gives off a savory aroma.

• For a Mexican tortilla soup or pozole, crumble 1 tablespoon dried oregano into a base of onions and garlic. Add 1/4 cup basic pepper paste or canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and 1 cup chopped tomatoes.

• For an Indian soup, turn a simple onion and garlic base into the foundation for an Indian soup by stirring 1 teaspoon cumin seed in with the garlic. Sizzle together for 20 seconds, then add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder.

The Stock or Broth

Once you’ve built up your soup’s foundation with aromatics and seasonings, it’s time to add a stock or broth. No single element in a soup wields as much influence on its taste as its liquid. You will want about a cup per serving: a little more for a brothy soup, a little less for a hearty one. Use 8 cups for a large batch (about 6 to 8 servings), and freeze the leftovers for up to 2 months. You will thank your past self for your generosity and foresight.

1. To paraphrase the food writer M.F.K. Fisher, there is a slippery slope from water to soup. If you have water around, you can have soup. Use water when you’re after clean, light flavors rather than rich ones, or when you don’t have any stock on hand.

   Water is never a bad choice, but sometimes stock is a better one, especially if your goal is to make a hearty, savory soup. Avoid canned and boxed stocks. Made with a lower ratio of bones and packed with ingredients — like cabbage, turmeric extract or yeast extract — that you would never add to a pot of stock yourself, they never taste quite right. Instead, either make and freeze stock or buy good quality fresh or frozen stock from a butcher. It will make all the difference.

2. OTHER FLAVORFUL LIQUIDS

   If you’re hoping to make miso, ramen or any other Japanese soup, skip the aromatics and start with dashi. This broth of kombu seaweed and dried bonito flakes is at the base of most Japanese home cooking, and it couldn’t be simpler to make. Place two 12-inch pieces of kombu in a saucepan with 3 cups of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and remove the kombu, then add two generous handfuls of dried bonito flakes, or katsuobushi. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from heat. Strain and use as you like.

   Don’t forget to use bean cooking broth and the juice that comes with canned tomatoes. Both will lend terrific flavor and body to a minestrone or bean soup. For a velvety vegetable soup or seafood chowder, replace some of the water or stock with dairy — preferably heavy cream, which can withstand some cooking without curdling.

   Or, to evoke the flavors of South India or Thailand, use full-fat coconut milk.

   Whether you use stock or water, or add dairy, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer to finish cooking.

The Main Ingredients

You’re almost there! After diligently building layer upon layer of flavor, there’s the payoff of adding the ingredients that inspired you to make soup in the first place. Add them to the pot raw, so they can release flavor into the soup. Bring it all to a boil, then simmer. You will know it’s done when it’s all tender, anywhere from 25 minutes to 3 hours depending on the ingredients.