Slow-simmered in earthen jars, clear and mellow — a pot of soup is part of every Jiangxi meal.
Jiangxi clay pot soup is freshness brewed by time.
In Jiangxi, especially Nanchang, clay pot soup is a daily necessity. Chicken, ribs, cuttlefish, kelp and more are placed in small earthen jars with water, set inside a giant clay vat, and simmered over charcoal for hours. When the jar opens, the soup is clear, mellow and fragrant.
The tradition goes back more than a thousand years. Jiangxi people believe that 'soup is the essence of food' and that simmering in a clay pot lets every bit of nutrition and flavour dissolve into the liquid. A good pot of soup needs time and patience.
The varieties are endless: rib soup, chicken soup, cuttlefish soup, radish soup. Even the simplest ingredients become delicious after hours in a clay pot. Jiangxi people drink their soup plain, with almost no seasoning, to taste the ingredients themselves.
In Nanchang, clay pot soup is often paired with mixed noodles. A bowl of Nanchang ganfen noodles and a pot of soup is the city's classic breakfast. In the morning, noodle shops and soup stalls sit side by side, and customers order one of each.
The 'simmering' is a craft. The charcoal heat must stay steady, the jars sealed, and the time sufficient. Old soup shops in Jiangxi light the fire before dawn and simmer all morning, so that at noon the soup is at its best.
When you visit Jiangxi, drink a pot of clay pot soup. At a Nanchang street shop, order a pot of rib soup with a bowl of noodles — the taste of Jiangxi is in that slow-brewed freshness.
