How to kick up the flavor in a vegetarian soup?

[Anonymous]

I make an awesome broccoli cheddar soup. I usually use chicken broth or stock, but I'm cooking for vegetarians this time, and the flavor just seems lacking. Having used bay leaves and lots of onion and celery to make the base, what else can I put in to round out the flavor?

[Anonymous]

Sadly, I usually resort to soy sauce or salt. Easy fix, I know, but that tends to do it.

[Anonymous]

garlic

[Anonymous]

Salt, and lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

[Anonymous]

I usually use chicken stock too, but I recently started using Safeway organics vegetarian stock and like it.

[Anonymous]

Beer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make an awesome broccoli cheddar soup. I usually use chicken broth or stock, but I'm cooking for vegetarians this time, and the flavor just seems lacking. Having used bay leaves and lots of onion and celery to make the base, what else can I put in to round out the flavor?

The main ingredient is the acceptance that vegetarian soups will never taste like the meat-based soups. Then you can try some tricks that I have learned:

* saute the vegetables until brown before adding liquid
* saute shrimp or lobsters with shells on and add liquid
* (Vietnamese) add anchovie paste or anchovie sauce
* (Chinese) use hot pepper flakes, soy sauce and vinegar like Hot n Sour Soup
* (Japanese) add miso paste
* (Korean) add hot miso paste, and rice cakes
* add butter
* substitute water with cream
* add potatoes as thickener

[Anonymous]

I'll often throw in alcohol after the onion or mirepoix has sauteed - sherry or dry white wine would go well with the cheddar.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

* 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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

Neither are cheddar cheese, butter, cream. Depends on where this person falls on the spectrum.

It would be challenging to cook for strict vegetarians, though.

[Anonymous]

I just made a lentil soup with about 2 TBS of tomato paste. The concentrated paste adds a lot of flavor IMO.

[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.

Neither are cheddar cheese, butter, cream. Depends on where this person falls on the spectrum.

It would be challenging to cook for strict vegetarians, though.

These are vegetarian, but not vegan.

[Anonymous]

a teaspoon of either miso paste or vegemite (probably unlikely that you have vegemite on hand, though).