Clearly, we can’t get enough of soup! As Mother Nature visits more rain and cool weather upon us, let us hunker down with a bowl or two of steaming hot goodness.

Zwiebelsuppe (Clear German Onion Soup)

Zwiebelsuppe (Clear German Onion Soup)

Ingredients:150 g onions, peeled, thinly sliced into rings; 2 cloves fresh garlic, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp fresh marjoram, chopped; 100 ml dry white wine; 1 l chicken broth; 4 slices sandwich bread; 30 g shredded parmesan cheese; salt and pepper to taste; and fresh marjoram, to garnish (optional)

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a large pot.
2. Sauté garlic slices and chopped marjoram, 2 minutes.
3. Add the onion slices and cook about 5 minutes (or longer if you like them very soft).
4. Add wine and broth and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes at a gentle simmer (bubbling, but not boiling).
5. Meanwhile, heat up your broiler and line a baking sheet with foil.
6. Using a 6-cm round biscuit cutter, cut bread slices into rounds and discard excess. You may also use a glass.
7. Set bread rounds on foil-lined pan and sprinkle with cheese and broil only about 1 minute—just to melt cheese.
8. Season soup well with salt and pepper.
9. Soup is ready when onions are tender—broth will be very clear and pinkish in color.
10. Ladle into bowls and float a bread round on top of each bowlful, garnishing with some extra fresh marjoram if desired.

Japanese Clear Onion Soup

Japanese Clear Onion Soup
Ingredients: 2 onions, diced; 6 c vegetable broth or water; 2 celery stalks, diced; 2 carrots, peeled and diced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; handful button mushrooms, thinly sliced; handful sliced scallions; salt and pepper to taste; and soy sauce and sriracha to taste

Procedure: 

1. Sauté the onions in a pot in a little bit of oil until slightly browned.
2. Add the carrot, celery, and garlic and 6 cups of vegetable broth/water.
3. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Strain the veggies from the broth and add the mushrooms and scallions before serving.

Clear Vegetable Soup

Clear Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:1/2 tsp oil; 1 tsp ginger, julienned; 3 cloves garlic, julienned; 3 tbsp onion, finely chopped; 2 spring onions (white part), chopped finely; 2 c mixed vegetables (carrots, beans, cauliflower, capsicum), chopped finely; 2 spring onions (green part), chopped finely; salt and pepper to taste; 4 to 5 c water; and 2 tsp corn flour/ cornstarch dissolved in water

Procedure:
1. Heat oil in a saucepan; add ginger, garlic, onion and spring onion (white part). Sauté for a minute.
2. Add veggies and sauté for 5 minutes or so.
3. Add water and cook until veggies are done.
4. Add salt, pepper and corn flour water and mix well. It will thicken the soup.
5. Add spring onion (green part) and stir well. Serve hot. (Recipes and photos from www.food.com; www.livingchirpy.com; www.yummytummyaarthi.com)