If you have ever bought a carton of broth for one recipe and thrown most of it out a week later, soup base solves that. It is stock with the water taken out, so what you keep on the shelf is the flavour and not the volume.
How to use it
Stir it into hot water until it dissolves. That is the whole method. The ratio on the jar gets you to something close to standard broth strength, and from there you adjust to taste.
How it differs from bouillon
Bouillon comes pressed into a fixed cube. Soup base is a loose powder you spoon from the jar, so you measure exactly what a dish needs instead of working around a portion someone else decided on.
Beyond soup
This is where a jar earns its shelf space. Use it to build a gravy, to cook rice in something other than water, or to deepen a pot roast. A spoonful goes into more dishes than the name suggests.
Go easy at first
It is concentrated, and it is salted. Start under the ratio and work up. You can always add.
Key takeaways
- Soup base is concentrated stock in powder form.
- It stores in the pantry and keeps far longer than a carton of broth.
- It is not only for soup. Use it in gravy, rice, and braises.
- Start with less than you think and taste before adding more.
