GEORGE TOWN, Feb 26 — The clear, broth-based Chinese soup made from double boiling or slow cooking a mix of ingredients is often a staple at most ethnic Chinese homes.

For centuries, since the days of old China, these clear soups were not part of a meal but were prepared with specific ingredients and herbs as tonics to treat all sorts of ailments from fever to arthritis.

There are hundreds of different soups — some savoury, some sweet and some even bitter — and each uses a different mix of ingredients to give unique flavours and tastes that treat specific conditions and ailments.

Since these soups are often home cooked, recipes are usually handed down from generation to generation so over the years some recipes may have been changed to suit the times and the availability of ingredients.

In fact, the preparation of any one type of soup differs from one household to another.

Though these clear, nourishing soups are usually prepared at home, there are now hawker stalls selling Chinese herbal soups paired with steamed rice in Penang.

So, even if you can’t cook soup or don’t have anyone to cook a healthy pot of delicious Chinese soup for you, it is easily found at hawker centres and some coffee shops.

Most of these stalls offer a variety of soups from chicken- or pork-based soups to the ones with Chinese herbs and ginseng for health, to relieve body heat or to strengthen the immune system.

The more common types of soups available at most of these stalls are the lotus root soup (lenggau thng), black bean soup (or thau thng), ABC soup, winter melon pork ribs soup (tang kua thng), six herbs soup (lak bi thng), old cucumber soup (lau timun thng), salted vegetable soup (kiam chai thng) and chicken herbal soup.

The lotus root soup is made from boiling slices of lotus root, pork ribs, red dates and dried cuttlefish for a savoury concoction sweetened by the dates and given a hint of the sea with the dried cuttlefish.

Now, the ABC soup is not exactly a traditional soup but one that is a result of a mix of cultures and could be a modification of plain chicken soup. This chicken-broth based soup is prepared with chicken pieces, or sometimes pork ribs, and carrots, tomatoes, onions and potatoes.

The flavours of the root vegetables combined give the soup a sweet, slightly sour taste that is perfectly rounded with some crushed peppercorns. It is locally called the ABC soup perhaps due to its having three different types of vegetables in it.

The salted vegetable soup is not to be mistaken with the kiam chai boey (salted vegetable leftover soup) as this is only made from salted vegetables, tomatoes, garlic, onion and pork ribs so this is a salty and sour soup that not many can appreciate.

These soups can be enjoyed as is or with a steaming hot bowl of rice as how it is served at coffee shops and hawker centres.

Here are some places to try out some homecooked-style nourishing soups:

Hwa Lam Coffee Shop, Carnavon Street
GPS:5.423547, 100.321258
Time: 6pm-11pm

This stall offers soups for the more adventurous. Forget common soups like ABC and lotus root soup because this stall is a specialised one that sells concoctions like frog soup (cui kay thng) and turtle soup that many believe are good for health. The stall also occasionally has braised wild boar and venison.

Simm Kah Poh Coffeeshop, Jalan Mas
GPS: 5.395062, 100.301388
Time: 11am-8pm

This stall offer different types of soups such as the fruit-based apple pork rib or pear pork rib soup to vegetable-based soups like watercress pork ribs or corn soup. Their choice of soups changes on a day to day basis so there is no fixed list to choose from.

Hai Beng Coffee Shop,
Corner of Jones Road and Burmah Road
GPS: 5.429057, 100.314100
Time: 11am-4pm

Burma Food Paradise Coffee Shop, Burmah Road
GPS: 5.423547, 100.321258
Time: 11am-5pm

1288 Coffee Shop, Jalan Paya Terubong
GPS: 5.392828, 100.276202
Time: 6pm-11pm