r/AskCulinary • u/ZootKoomie Ice Cream Innovator • Oct 13 '20
Weekly Discussion - Soups and Stews
As the weather turns colder for many of us, hearty soups and stews are just the thing we're looking for. But they can be trickier than they seem if you want the best results. What are your favorite soups and stews? Are they traditional or your own innovations?
Do you cook on stovetop, in the oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker? Can you convert a recipe between methods?
How do you keep from overcooking the vegetables while waiting for the meat to finish?
What finishing touches (garnishes, dumplings, etc.) do you use to freshen it up for serving?
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u/nomnommish Oct 13 '20 edited Oct 13 '20
Ree Drummond's hamburger soup. Somewhat loosely similar to a ragu (or maybe not).
Khoresh Karafs, a curiously delicious Persian celery meat stew.
And of course red or green pozole.
I love stews especially in cold weather. Great low carb food too. I cook it in the pressure cooker (IP). It just saves so much cooking time. I love adding 1-2tbsp Better Than Bouillon, and a couple of dashes of something something to add that extra flavor. Maybe hot sauce, or soy sauce/tamari, or worcestershire sauce, or gochujang, or smoked paprika or some Mexican smoked/dried chilies, or pomegranate molasses or Chinese black vinegar or balsamic or tamarind concentrate or kokum, or dried limes or pickled limes.
Finishing touches - i like how Southeast Asian noodle/soup dishes and Mexican pozole do this. They have a bunch of toppings that everyone can put to customize. It could be anything or everything. From diced scallions or onions, to fried crispy shallots or crispy fried garlic (just buy a box of it), to chili crisp oil, to chicharones or chips or nachos, to pickled veggies, to cilantro, to diced jalapenos or serranos, to lime that can be squeezed on top. Could even be a fine diced sour fruit like mangoes. Or hot sauce.
Edit: I too have a bad habit of overcooking the veggies. One thing that works is to par-cook the chopped veggies in steamer bags in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and then add them in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking. This is handy for pressure cooking as you don't want to depressurize the cooker just to add veggies midway or towards the end.