Chinese soups are nothing but mouth-watering in all soup varieties. They have it all meat, veggies, spices spiced up, noodles, and sometimes fried noodles to add more taste.
But, there’s a thing called House special soup which is quite famous on American Chinese restaurant’s menus.
Is House special soup actually Special?
A house special soup is generally a soup that is the restaurant’s specialty. Out of all soups, this soup is what the restaurant’s chef specializes in. But, apart from this, there are other meanings to the name of this soup too.
Many a time in Chinese restaurants there are different soups that are named the house special. The soup you can special order in this house special variety has to be the one filled with pickled vegetables and noodles or crunchy noodles served in savory broth seasoned with five-spice powder and star anise.
But, apart from this, there are a variety of ways in which Chinese restaurants make house-special soup.
House Special soup is usually served as a starter or main course and can be either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is a unique kind of soup made by a particular restaurant in its own way by mixing ingredients that can make the best of everything.
House special soup is also referred sometimes as “Chinese New Year soup” in China.
As much as of unique name this dish is unique in its own way for a particular restaurant but has a part of Chinese culture in its making. It has a special preparation technique designed for restaurants in a signature way that establishes the item on a particular restaurant’s menu.
This dish very well incorporates special Chinese ingredients such as ramen and wanton, while it can also include Peking duck, Kung Pao Chicken, General Tso’s chicken, and pork.
Apart from these and many other ingredients, the five-spice powder adds a special touch to the soup if used. It is unique yet difficult to make. This powder is also used in chili and soy sauce. It is also sometimes used in stir-fried noodles fried rice etc.
Whenever you want to order such a dish it is recommended to know the ingredients first. Because you never know what it will turn out to be and you may feel that its uniqueness is unknown to you but it can be exactly what you desire.
So, to know more about what is House Special Soup exactly and how it can be unique let us see the overview of its recipe. Keeping aside the typical preparation techniques and saving you from details here is a quick sneak peek of the soup;
So, as discussed earlier this soup is made in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties. If you want to keep your soup vegetarian you can do so by using vermicelli, some veggies, and eggs (optional). You can also use Ramen in your soup and complete it with five-spice powder.
The Nov-vegetarian variety of soup can have chicken broth, pork bones, vermicelli, lamb, chicken extract, shrimp, and veggies like green onion, and also eggs.
All these ingredients are cooked and boiled well and mixed with pickled veggies and served hot! Isn’t it tempting? The recipe for these soups can be altered as per your tastes and can be made unique as per your choice because that’s what the restaurants generally do.
This recipe comes from traditional Chinese cuisine and thus it has the highest nutritional value to it. It can be the best way to make your winter warm with a warm meal. Vegetables, spices, chicken, and pork are rich in proteins and carbohydrates. It is a great source of energy and can become your fulfilling meal. It is a must-try dish in winter which you won’t resist every forthcoming winter!
American Restaurants where you may find House Special Soup
We have listed some of the restaurants in the U.S. for such authentic Chinese cuisines. You must try these as soon as possible.
- Class 302, Rowland Heights
- Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant, San Francisco
- Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, San Mateo
- Savoy Kitchen, Alhambra
- Star Kitchen, Denver
- Tropical Chinese Miami
All in all, if you are a Chinese lover based in the U.S. you don’t have to make your taste buds wait for such amazing cuisines. Chinese food which is typically famous for its flavourful garlic and onion taste will never disappoint you. This soup has all the taste, flavor, texture, spice, and hotness you crave while witnessing winter in the US.
So what are you still waiting for? as much as we want you to keep reading just run to the restaurant near you and grab a bowl of hot tempting soup for you now!
