How to make delicious soup from a bag. Review of E-pek instant soups

And once again about soups.

Today we’ll talk about packaged soups. How do you feel about them?

For example, when I met Dr. Dukan, I was surprised by his passion for soup cubes. Not just me. However...

Food concentrates appeared in the 18th century. It was then that the Kharkov scientist Karamzin invented an apparatus for drying products of plant and animal origin. So,

Soups from a bag are divided into three groups.

1. Instant - soup (from English. Instant – “instant”) just pour boiling water (for example, “Hot Mug” from “Maggi”, vermicelli soups"Rollton", "Doshirak").

2. “Quick” soup requires a pan of water and a few minutes of cooking (for example, “Bvstrosoup” from Gallina Blanca).

3. “Ready” soup just needs to be heated in microwave oven or on the stove (for example, “Gourmania”, “The Pride of the Housewife”).

The first option is extremely popular. But is it really that useful?

Let's discuss..

• In the majority quick soups, according to the promises of the labels, they put dried mushrooms, tomatoes in powder form, shrimp or meat (also dried, tastes like soy).

• If among the ingredients there is a flavor identical to natural (mushroom, vegetable, chicken), there is a high probability of purchasing soup not with the taste, but only with the aroma of the specified product.
• In addition, there are very few biologically active substances in such soups, so fiber, vitamins and beneficial enzymes will have to be obtained from more familiar foods.
• Another component of the bags and cups is the famous E-621, also known as monosodium glutamate. Such a contradictory seasoning. It is believed that it improves brain function and bears the proud name of “mind serum.” But it is also known that excessive consumption can lead to poor vision and other health problems. Both statements have their supporters among scientists. And while they are actively arguing, proving the validity of their opinion, and looking for the truth, it is better to abandon this spice. This means you will have to avoid “quick” soups (as well as bouillon cubes and seasoning mixtures) - the concentration of monosodium glutamate in them is very high. By the way, it is this that gives the instant soup an unpleasant aftertaste.
• Another popular component is Palm oil. Recent studies have shown that it worsens fat metabolism in the body and can cause the development of atherosclerosis.
• Quick soups always include salt, which is not spared. Eating from a bag, a person receives at least 15 g of this spice per day, while the norm for an adult is about 3–5 g.
• In addition, instant soups are generously seasoned with stabilizers, preservatives and other ingredients with the letter E - otherwise they simply could not be stored for such a long period (from a year to a year and a half). Abuse of instant soups can be harmful to health: such products are poorly digested and difficult to remove from the body . At best, this leads to heartburn. At worst, it negatively affects liver function, causes gastritis and weakens the immune system. Bouillon cubes and dry soups are contraindicated for hypertensive patients due to their high salt content, as well as for ulcer sufferers due to numerous food additives and flavor enhancers. So you should stay away from the shelf with “quick” dishes, except in emergency cases. Moreover, nutritionists categorically do not recommend eating instant soups more often than once every two weeks, and completely replacing lunch or dinner with them.

A few simple recipes will help reduce the harmfulness of soups made from concentrates.

• After pouring boiling water over the noodle soup, it is better not to add the included oil to it. Replace it with a teaspoon of regular vegetable. Some buyers even abandon the soup base altogether, replacing it with natural salt, pepper and fresh herbs that are on hand.
• You can add a little to instant soup boiled potatoes– it will absorb excess salt.
• For quick soup that requires cooking, it is recommended to add less water than indicated on the package - the lunch will be thicker and more filling. The same potato can handle excess salt, just put it in a container raw at the beginning of cooking, and before serving, just take it out and throw it away.

Hi all. “Once a day, soup should be in the stomach,” have you heard this proverb? It’s a pity that in reality soup can be prepared very rarely. The fact is that to prepare it you need to spend a certain amount of time, but it is always not enough.

However, soups are designed to solve this problem. instant cooking. We will look at one of these today. This is mushroom soup from the Home Bistro company, the cost of a bag is 67 rubles.

Regular bags of instant soup are very small, but they are cheaper than this one. I initially wanted to make more soup, so I took a larger package, 60 grams.

There are inscriptions on the packaging that say there are

porcini mushrooms and champignons, large pieces of vegetables and steamed pearl barley

The barley was steamed, apparently to quickly cook it along with other ingredients.

There is nothing criminal in the composition, except that it contains mushroom flavoring. Indeed, when you open the pack, the smell of mushrooms is very noticeable. Apparently, this is the merit of that very flavoring agent.

Otherwise, it contains a lot of dried vegetables, as well as cereals.

The back of the package also tells you how to make soup using this packet. You need to bring the water to a boil, then add the contents of the bag and cook for 15-20 minutes. By the way, one bag is designed for 1 liter of water.

But for cooking delicious soup The contents of the bag alone are of course not enough, so we will add a few additions to the recipe.

First, we will cook some potatoes and cut them. When the water boils, add these potatoes to the pan along with the contents of the bag.

Next, fry the onions and mushrooms separately in a frying pan. I have frozen mushrooms, thanks to my father, who repeatedly went to the forest in the summer and picked mushrooms. Basically, these are porcini mushrooms, as well as boletus mushrooms, for soup it is best mushrooms In my opinion.

I know that the cat cried in a bag of mushrooms, they only give off the aroma, so your own product won’t hurt.

So, put the mushrooms and onions in a hot frying pan with oil.

Fry the onion until lightly golden, never overcook.

Add this frying to the pan after about 15-20 minutes of cooking the soup, after which we keep the stove at low temperature for some more time.

That's it, the soup is ready, you can take it off the stove and call everyone to the table.

The soup turned out to be very tasty, the bright mushroom taste is achieved using natural fried mushrooms, initially there are few of them in the bag. However, I tried the broth during cooking, even without adding a natural product, so to speak, the taste and aroma of mushrooms can be detected.

The cereal was cooked perfectly, it was pleasant to eat. Even taking into account the fact that I clearly had more than 1 liter of water in the pan, there were enough seasonings, the taste was simply excellent. Except that I added a little more salt, which also fits into the serving size.

In fact, this method of preparing soup is quite good and the Home Bistro company is clearly worthy. I can recommend you instant soup from this manufacturer, don’t be lazy, put in a little more effort and then you will get a very tasty soup.

Soups, which can often be found on shelves for a small price, are very easy to prepare, and even on each package you can always find a description of the preparation method. A saucepan, water and the mixture itself, that’s all the preparation, you don’t need any other expenses. The powder is poured into boiling water, the waiting time is about 20 minutes, and you can start eating.

Pour water into a small saucepan (you must, of course, take into account how much soup and how many bags you decide to use), then put it on the fire and cover with a lid.
- in the process of heating the water, you can peel about 5 medium-sized potatoes and take at the rate of 2 potatoes per 1 liter of water, and cut into neat cubes.

Afterwards the lard is cut, or you can take the brisket, and put it in a pan with water and then cover it back.
- when the water starts to boil, you need to remove the foam and throw in the potatoes that have been chopped.
- after that you can add the soup mixture and stir the soup being prepared. The broth should have an appetizing, beautiful color with a yellowish tint and have a characteristic aroma.
- Be sure to check the soup for salt. In general, of course, salt is already included in the soup powder, but if you used more water than required, there may not be enough salt and you just need to add the right amount.

This soup takes about 20 minutes to cook. And before it is ready, to give it even more flavor, you can add a couple of leaves bay leaf and a couple of black peppercorns. Then let it all simmer for about 2 minutes and now your soup is ready, you can start eating. Lunch delivery is offered here at obedvoffice.spb.ru.

There is another option for preparing this soup. In the second case, the beginning of the cooking process is similar, take a saucepan and put it on the fire until the water boils, peel the potatoes in the same proportions, and also cut them into cubes. Then you need to peel the carrots and cut them into small cubes (it doesn’t turn out so tasty on a grater). We peel another onion and chop it as finely as possible on the board. Onions and carrots are fried in a frying pan with sunflower oil. After the water has boiled, pour in the potatoes and fried onions and carrots. Slowly stir the broth and pour in the soup from the bag. Cook for about 15 minutes, then you can add parsley or dill, whichever you prefer. The soup is ready. Bon appetit!

The soups that are sold for pennies in bags are easy to prepare, especially since the preparation method is always described on the packaging itself. Water, a saucepan and, in fact, the soup itself. No big expenses required. I poured the powder into boiling water, waited 20 minutes, and you were ready to eat...

But this is for lazy or especially rushed citizens. And for those who like to cook with gusto or just want to add a special flavor to the taste of the dish, I can advise you to prepare the soup like this:

Pour water into a small saucepan (well, depending on how much soup you want... We base it on a liter of water per sachet), put it on the fire and close the lid.

While the water is heating, peel 4-5 medium-sized potatoes (in the proportion of 2 medium potatoes per liter of water) and cut into cubes.

Then cut the lard (if any) into slices or shred the brisket.

Place the chopped lard or brisket in a pan with water and cover again.

When the water boils, skim off the foam and add the potato cubes to the broth.

Then pour the soup mixture into the saucepan and stir halfway ready soup. The broth should be beautiful and appetizing yellow color and have the appropriate aroma.

Check the amount of salt to taste. In principle, salt is included in the soup powder, but if there is an excess amount of water, the broth turns out to be under-salted, so add it yourself - as much as you think is necessary.

The soup cooks for about 15-20 minutes. And a couple of minutes before readiness, to give our broth a brighter aroma and taste, add 1-2 bay leaves and 2 black peppercorns. Let it all boil together for another 2-3 minutes and that’s it – the soup is ready! Bon appetit!

There is a second option for delicious soup from a bag:
Pour water into a saucepan. Again, according to the proportion of 1 liter of water per bag of soup.
Place a pan of water on the fire and cover with a lid.
While the water is heating up, peel the potatoes (again in the same proportion) and cut them, on a board or in your hands, into cubes.
Then we peel a small carrot and cut it into small cubes (it tastes better than grated).
Peeling the onion onions and chop finely on a board.
Fry onions and carrots in sunflower oil in a frying pan.
As soon as the water boils, add potatoes, onions and carrots.
Slowly stirring the broth, pour the soup from the bag into the pan.
We taste the amount of salt, add if it is not enough, in your opinion.
Cook for 15-20 minutes, 2 minutes before readiness add fresh or dried dill, you can also add parsley - whatever you have on hand.
Boil for a couple more minutes and the soup is ready!
Bon appetit!

P.S.: This dish is not for saving money in times of crisis and is not a diet food, but just a soup for those who are tired of the monotony, and there is no meat in the house for a rich broth. There would be desire and a creative approach. The soup base itself from the bag can pass for a universal seasoning or like a bouillon cube: it adds its own original taste and aroma.

One of our subscribers sent us a review of E-pek instant soups. We’ll find out from the review how well they are suitable for hiking conditions. The author's spelling has been preserved.

As promised, a short review. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to cook this time on the hike, because... There were problems with water, or rather, with its absence, so the sublimates were almost not used. Therefore, the photos were taken in one of the forests near Moscow and at home.

In the forest we decided to choose from two soups (and borscht), but my partner forgot to take sour cream, which would have significantly improved taste qualities dishes. But no problem. By the way, everything different soups The manufacturer's assortment includes as many as 15 pieces with different flavors (types of soup). According to the packaging, one package of E-pek soup serves 4 servings. The description states that it is either 2 hearty lunch to fill up, or 4 snacks to “refuel”. Let's see how true this is.

And so, pour the contents of the bag into a bowl. This is for clarity (dry solyanka looks about the same, we tried it at home). Let the water warm up (I use an Esbit alcohol burner, it’s enough for 2 people and it’s quite convenient to cook with it, because the flame is regulated by a damper; we took the Fire-Maple burner for other purposes).

Pour the contents of the package into warm water and, stirring occasionally, wait until it boils, then cook for about 20 minutes, then let it brew for 5 minutes - and the soup is ready. Why don’t we throw it into boiling water? This way dried vegetables and cereals boil faster (in other soups, but more on that later), and we don’t waste time and fuel. The result is a rich broth, excellent color and taste of the dish itself.

The photo shows the quantity of vegetables, and there is also a meat component in the form of boiled lumps of minced meat, so this product compares favorably with similar soups “from a bag” or sublimates. Among the advantages, I would like to note - large portions for two (or small, but for 4, in 250-300 ml mugs, for example), a large amount of grounds, which is undoubtedly more nutritious and tastier than powdered soups.

The downside is the cooking time. But, on the other hand, if time allows, for example, when stopping for the night on a hike or while staying in a camp, these soups are an excellent choice, especially considering the price, weight and packaging.

Upon returning home, the next day it was decided to try from the same manufacturer. Although I don’t really like pickle soup, it was worth a try. And so, the photo is part of the contents of the package in dry form.

Vegetable inclusions are visible, and the bulk is pearl barley. The cooking principle is the same as for borscht, but we cook it a little longer so that the pearl barley is well boiled (you can test it for doneness during the cooking process, depending on your preference). I also added a mixture of dried vegetables, about a tablespoon, maybe a little less (peppers, carrots, onions, tomatoes and herbs).

We got 2 full servings with big amount grounds. The soup turned out to be quite edible. Boiled pickles I didn’t see it in the soup, but the taste was there.

There was enough salt, but it’s better to look at taste, as you like, as well as with pepper. Overall, the pickle turned out to be quite good, despite my dislike for it since kindergarten.
A day later we decided to try another, this time - mushroom soup. But not cream soup, which is also present in the line of this manufacturer, but .

Its characteristic difference is not its powdery state, but the presence of a large amount of dried potatoes in its composition. There are also inclusions dried mushrooms and pearl barley, which increases the nutritional value of the soup, but which I don’t like and don’t consider it advisable to add to mushroom soup.

And so, everything is in order. Photo of the dry product. The cooking process is similar to the previous ones, but with an increase in cooking time, because... dry potatoes gain moisture and swell much more than rice and pearl barley.

Accordingly, the cooking time is about 5 minutes until it boils, 30 minutes of cooking and 5 minutes of letting it brew, just to be sure.

The result is 40 minutes, which is a lot considering the combustion of fuel, but fortunately, we were not in a hurry, and the burner worked in the mode of maintaining the boiling temperature (i.e. at low power). In this case, the resulting soup was poured into 3 servings. More, I think, is no longer advisable, because... the broth would not be as rich and watery. There is quite a lot of thick stuff.

We didn’t add salt and pepper; we were interested in the taste of the dish itself. I want to note that he is not bad. Apparently the presence of pieces of mushrooms that fall on the tooth has an effect, and also add aroma. Dried potatoes After cooking, it feels and tastes inferior to fresh, but you can eat it. There is less grain than in pickle, but it is far from the main ingredient here. Verdict: The soup is more like enough for 2 people.

The aroma is exactly forest mushrooms, which is undoubtedly a big plus. A large amount of plant components. The downside is that it takes longer to cook than others due to the potatoes. You can take it for variety, but for now in the line of soups for me the top ones are borscht, solyanka and chicken; the last of the two (and not only) will probably also be reviewed, but in a smaller volume, because... they are all prepared according to the same principle, and the potential buyer will choose, rather, from his personal preferences.

Then, after a couple of days, we decided to eat ““. Cooking this time took a different turn, so I decided to provide a review in the form of a simple, but delicious recipe. Since there are no vegetarians among us, in this case we used beef stew for the broth.

For five people (3 guys and 2 girls), we needed 2 packets of soup, 2 tablespoons of dried vegetables, one medium onion and a 525g can of stew, a couple of liters of water and salt/pepper to taste.

Well, a small frying pan with a pot with a volume of 3.3 or 3.6 l (I don’t remember exactly). We put water on the fire, add dried vegetables into it and open the stew.

Carefully skim off the fat and place it in a frying pan. In it, as you probably already guessed, we will fry onions.

We slightly separate the most valuable contents of the jar with a spoon, so that it is more convenient to pour the meat into portions, and throw it into heated water. Mix. Next we send cabbage soup E-pek. Let me remind you that after the water boils, we need time to cook and soften the dry component. After the water boils, set the pot aside (since we have one burner) and get to work on the fat.

Melt it over low heat, add chopped onion and fry until golden brown. Then add it to the pot and leave the soup to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Afterwards, let it brew for 10 minutes, stir before serving and pour into plates. You can add finely chopped herbs and sour cream. The cabbage soup turned out to be very rich and thick due to the high content of vegetables and meat.

5 people ate until they were full, which I consider a good indicator in terms of the amount of food consumed (the total weight of which was less than 800g, not counting water) and the cooking time, which was about 40 minutes, including frying the onions. I also recommend using sorrel cabbage soup from this manufacturer in a similar recipe. Well, vegetarians can prepare these soups without stew, because... they do not contain meat or animal fats.

That's all, thanks for your attention. Maybe later I will try other soups from this brand.

The store administration reminds you that the soups from the review can be purchased in our store, in the section .