Want to serve meat soup for dinner for your loved ones? If you and your family are used to eating soup with watery soup, as is commonly consumed by Indonesians, why not try making a Western-style beef soup with a thicker soup? Come on, read this article to find out the recipe!
Step
Method 1 of 4: Thicken Soup with Roux
Step 1. Coat the meat with a little flour, then fry the meat until the surface is brown before adding to the soup
Remember, this stage should not be missed before the meat is cooked in the soup.
- This process is not only able to caramelize the surface of the meat and improve the taste of the soup significantly, but it will also thicken the texture of the soup when the starch from the wheat flour is mixed with the soup.
- After the meat is fried, do the deglazing process or dissolve the remaining food stuck to the bottom of the pan by pouring the fermented red wine, beer, or stock into the skillet used for frying the meat.
Step 2. Mix the flour with water to make a roux
In fact, this is the most common method used in the culinary world to thicken beef stew. The main ingredient in wheat flour is gluten, and when mixed with water, gluten proteins will form a sticky textured network. As a result, the texture of the food will thicken afterwards.
- To make a roux, first reduce the heat on the stove used to heat the soup, then transfer a few spoonfuls of soup to a bowl to use to thin the roux. Then, heat the fat of your choice (preferably butter, about 2 tablespoons for a standard-sized soup pot) in a medium-high skillet, then add the same amount of flour. Stir the two together to prevent the flour from burning until well combined.
- Some recipes ask you to use a mixture of 6 tbsp. flour and 4 tbsp. butter or cider to make a roux.
- At this point, the edges of the roux should appear to be melting and bubbling. The texture will begin to resemble a yellowish white paste. Keep stirring until the color darkens. The darker the color of the roux, the richer the flavor when mixed into food, especially since wheat flour will give off a nutty taste when cooked for a long time. However, since the roux's ability to thicken food will be lost if it's cooked too long, it's best to remove the roux even if it still looks pale in color.
Step 3. Mix the roux into the soup
First, dilute the roux with some of the soup stock that you set aside in the previous step. Once the texture of the roux is thinner, roughly the consistency of very thick meat broth, feel free to pour it into the soup. Remember, the soup should be re-cooked for 5-10 minutes after mixing with the roux.
- This step must be done to eliminate the taste of raw flour. However, make sure that the soup is not cooked for more than 10 minutes because the roux's ability to thicken the food will be lost if it is cooked too long.
- Remember, adding a roux will reduce the intensity of the flavor of the herbs and spices in the soup. That's why soups must be re-tasted to make sure the flavors are balanced before serving. If you want, you can also use milk instead of water to make a roux, although milk sticks and burns more easily than water. In addition, the role of wheat flour you can also replace with oatmeal or rice flour.
Method 2 of 4: Thicken Soup with Beurre Manié
Step 1. Prepare equal amounts of butter and flour
Knead the two until well mixed.
Soften the texture of the butter before mixing it with the flour. For about 3 liters of soup, use a mixture of 2-3 tbsp. butter and flour in equal proportions
Step 2. Turn up the heat just before serving the soup
Step 3. Mix a little beurre manié into the soup
Reduce the heat, then continue to stir the soup until it thickens.
Method 3 of 4: Thicken Soup with Flour or Other Thickening Ingredients
Step 1. Add a little heavy cream or crme fraiche to make a thick, creamy soup
Then, season the soup to taste. If desired, the soup can also be thickened with potatoes, rice starch, or tapioca flour.
- Mix 2 tsp. thickener of choice with a little water or milk, then slowly pour the solution into the pot of soup, stirring constantly. In particular, potato starch will result in a soup with a different elasticity, which is more like a dessert.
- If you don't have any of the ingredients listed, feel free to get creative! For example, you can thicken your soup with instant mashed potato powder, packaged instant gravy, or even biscuit crumbs, although all of these alternative options are not really ideal.
Step 2. Make a roux from cornstarch instead of flour
The trick, pour a little soup into a medium-sized bowl, then let stand for a moment until the temperature cools down. Remember, the temperature of the gravy must be cold or at least lukewarm so that the cornstarch doesn't overcook and clump before use.
- Add 1 tsp. up to 1 tbsp. cornstarch. Stir well until the flour is dissolved and there are no lumps. If necessary, use a mixer to make sure there are no lumps of flour left! Once the flour is completely dissolved, immediately pour it into the soup, then stir until well combined. In the culinary world, the solution is known as a “slurry”, or a semi-viscous liquid produced by mixing water with certain ingredients. To produce "slurry", you can also use fermented wine, you know!
- Turn off the stove, and continue to stir the soup so that the thickener that has been added doesn't clump. In particular, cornstarch has similar characteristics to wheat flour as a thickening agent. Another thickening agent commonly used in sauces or other manufactured foods is guar gum. If you can get your hands on guar gum, use a small amount as it is 8x more effective than cornstarch for thickening food.
Step 3. Use instant beef stock, if you can find one on the market
To use it, simply mix the contents of the package with a little water in a bowl, then stir until all the ingredients are well mixed and there are no lumps.
- Generally, one pack of instant meat broth can thicken about 480 ml of liquid. With this measure, the consistency of the soup will resemble a fairly thick meat broth, and the taste of the meat will be slightly stronger.
- Most instant meat broths contain cornstarch, and are processed in such a way as to produce a soft and semi-thick texture, like a mixture of cornstarch and water.
Step 4. Choose a gluten-free thickener
One of the good non-gluten thickening agents to use is arrowroot starch. If the texture of the soup is too runny, add the arrowroot starch a little at a time, starting with tsp. first. Feel free to increase the amount gradually until the consistency of the soup is to your liking.
- Remember, arrowroot starch should be stirred slowly and continuously over medium heat until the soup thickens. Be patient and don't add too much thickening agent at once, okay!
- Arrowroot starch has a more neutral taste than cornstarch. In addition, the thickener can also be cooked at various temperatures without compromising its ability to thicken food. When compared to cornstarch, arrowroot starch has a higher tolerance for acids and can cook for a longer time.
Method 4 of 4: Thicken Soup with Vegetables
Step 1. Mix as many meaty vegetables as possible into the soup
In addition to making the soup taste more filling, "flesh" vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, celery, and cabbage are very effective at thickening the texture of the soup, you know!
- When cooked with soup, some of the vegetables will melt into the soup and give it a richer texture.
- Root vegetables are also effective for thickening the texture of soups, such as potatoes. In particular, mixing potatoes into the soup will naturally thicken the texture.
Step 2. Process the vegetables until they have thickened texture
One of the easiest ways to thicken a soup's texture is to mix a variety of vegetables into it, such as potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery.
- Once the vegetables are cooked and the flavors have soaked into the soup, you can take them out and process them with stock or other soup ingredients until they have a thick, paste-like texture. For example, remove some of the potatoes and carrots that have been cooked in the soup, then mash the vegetables with a fork or a potato masher, and put them back in the soup to thicken the texture.
- If you want, you can also process the vegetables and soup right away in the pot with the help of a hand blender. Besides being able to thicken the texture of the dish, this method is also effective in enriching the fiber content in the soup!
Step 3. Done
Tips
- In fact, the consistency of sauces and thick soups that use cornstarch as a thickening agent tends to change after being frozen and thawed again. That's why it's best to use a thickening agent that can maintain the consistency of sauces and soups even after they've been frozen and thawed, such as arrowroot starch.
- So that the texture of the soup is not too runny, do not add too much liquid such as water or beef stock to it. Instead, add more fat and flavor by frying the meat before mixing it into the soup.
- If you want, you can also add starchy foods to enhance the flavor of the soup and thicken the texture. For example, try adding rice, potatoes, or pasta to your soup to make it thicker in texture.
- Turn down the fire. Once the soup has come to a boil, it should have a runny texture instead of a thicker one. At this stage, you can add thickening agents such as flour to thicken the texture of the gravy.
- Some traditional rouxes are made from fats other than butter, such as peanut butter, lard, bacon fat, and duck fat. In addition, typical Cajun dishes generally make a dark chocolate roux from a mixture of vegetable oil and wheat flour.
