A bellyful of warmth

Not all soups are made in the clay pot. Some of the lighter everyday soups are quickly made, often in the wok.

These are the light soups, made with a few slices of meat for flavor and plenty of vegetables. Mustard greens and lean pork, for example, or even an egg drop soup with coriander added at the last minute.

But the art of making soup reaches its pinnacle with those that are simmered long and slow.

I remember trotters and peanut soup. The broth was rich and milky and scented with the unmistakable aroma of the nuts. The nuts are thrown into the soup with the skins on, and these tinge the soup slightly pink. The trotters, reduced to a gelatinous tenderness, would be plated and served as part of the meal, together with a little saucer of soy sauce. I remember draining the bowl and happily picking at the soft, soft nuts.

Funnily enough, the alchemy of peanuts and trotters means that you hardly taste the porkiness of the pig's feet, only a nutty fragrance that is accentuated by the addition of a handful of dried Chinese jujubes.

And here you have the classic anatomy of a Cantonese soup.

First, you have the meat-which can be pork, beef, mutton or fish. Then you have the complementary ingredients, which can be root vegetables such as radishes, carrots or lotus root, or beans or dried leafy vegetables. And finally, there will always be dried jujubes, dates, ginger, dried citrus peel or any of a vast variety of Chinese herbs.