How to kick up the flavor in a vegetarian soup?

[Anonymous]

Vegetarian definitely does NOT include seafood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mushrooms, soy sauce, anchovies are all umami enhancers (although anchovies won't worn for vegetarian soup).

Yes, mushrooms are good, especially a flavorful one like shitake or Chinese black mushrooms. One way to increase the flavor is to use mushrooms to create fond. Take some olive oil, vegetable oil or shortening in a stainless pan (do not use a non-stick as you won't create a decent fond). Heat oil, add diced and/or chopped mushrooms.cover and cook for several minutes (3-5), uncover and push the mushrooms and any liquid given off around the pan to wipe down the brown fond, it's where a lot of the flavor comes in. After the mushrooms have wilted and lost most of their moisture, they'll be dark brown and you'll have a dark brown liquid from the fond on the pan. Put the mushrooms and fond into your soup. If you don't want large mushrooms, you can chop the mushrooms smaller or skip them and only use the fond for flavoring.

I often use the dried Chinese black mushrooms and rehydrate them in hot water. Then I add the hydrating water into the pan slowly and reduce the water. The mushrooms leave a lot of flavor in the water and that also heightens the umami flavors in the fond.

And despite the arguments pescatarianism is not vegetarian. So, shrimp, lobster and anchovies don't work for vegetarians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vegetarian definitely does NOT include seafood.

How about milk and butter?

[Anonymous]

From wikipedia:

There are varieties of the diet as well: an ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy products, a lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products but not eggs, and an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet includes both eggs and dairy products. A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including eggs, dairy, and honey.

Semi-vegetarian diets consist largely of vegetarian foods, but may include fish or poultry, or sometimes other meats on an infrequent basis. Those with diets containing fish or poultry may define "meat" only as mammalian flesh and may identify with vegetarianism. A pescetarian diet, for example, includes "fish but no meat". The common use association between such diets and vegetarianism has led vegetarian groups such as the Vegetarian Society to state that diets containing these ingredients are not vegetarian, due to fish and birds being animals.

Vegetarian = eggs/butter/dairy
Vegan = no eggs/butter/dairy

The tricky part is when you think about things like gelatin, rennet, lard, and so on. But seafood is not vegetarian in any sense.

[Anonymous]

beer, garlic, garlic salt

[Anonymous]

Drives me crazy when people eat chicken or seafood and call themselves vegetarian. There are vegans, vegetarians (classifications within, ovo-lacto, lacto, ovo) and there are meateaters who eat some or all of the following fish, poultry pork, beef and other animals. Vegetarians do not eat flesh of any kind.

[Anonymous]

There is a range of vegetarianism. Strict, seafood, no red-meat, dairy only, etc. So you can pick and choose.[code]

WRONG! See above definitions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Salt, and lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

Yes, the salt level has to be just right. And for what you're making, lemon juice would be good. I usually add a few splashes of cayenne sauce, nit enough to taste spice, but it enhances the other flavors. Works every time.

[Anonymous]

You could start with a good stock utilizing potato peels and mire poix which obviously you would strain before incorporating into the final product or because this sounds like a cream soup with cheese, amp up the richness factor by adding some heavy creme and a small amount of nutmeg or allspice. I'm assuming you are talking about vegetarians not vegans because you wouldn't serve anything with cheese to vegans in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drives me crazy when people eat chicken or seafood and call themselves vegetarian. There are vegans, vegetarians (classifications within, ovo-lacto, lacto, ovo) and there are meateaters who eat some or all of the following fish, poultry pork, beef and other animals. Vegetarians do not eat flesh of any kind.

+1!

[Anonymous]

Vegetarian or not, there are some great tips on this thread for people who love to cook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

* saute shrimp or lobsters with shells on and add liquid
* (Vietnamese) add anchovie paste or anchovie sauce
*

If you use these ingredients it isn't vegetarian.

There is a range of vegetarianism. Strict, seafood, no red-meat, dairy only, etc. So you can pick and choose.

Vegetarian never means to eat seafood, no read-meat only or with egg. These are "cheats" that meat-eaters have included to the vocabulary.