How to thicken cream soups?

[diymummy]

Hi all,

I like to make cream soups, like cream of chicken and cream of mushroom and the likes of it...

But I have a problem with thickening the soups.

I tried using flour.. I would mix the flour in cold water first then pour into soup but the flour becomes lumps? I also tried mixing it in hot water but I get the same result when I pour it into the soup.

I tried corn starch but it doesn't seem to have much effect? Or maybe I added too little?

Any advise?

Thanks!

 

[stonston]

You are suppose to make a roux first. Fat and flour, add milk.

 

[diymummy]

Ok... Thanks

I see where you're going with the roux. I think I need to change the sequence in which I add the ingredients in....

 

[diymummy]

Oh btw, what kind of flour should I be using? Is plain flour ok?

 

[camom]

Plain flour is fine. What I do is melt butter, fry the flour, then add liquid.

 

[diymummy]

Thanks camom mummy You're a cooking guru

 

[camom]

Diymummy, u r welcome!

Let me go back and dig out my recipe for exact measurements for a cream of mushroom soup. I'll post it here.

 

[diymummy]

Thanks!!!

 

[stonston]

Actually, the basic recipe is rather simple. Just modify from there.
25g fat
25g flour (I prefer potato flour cos it's thicker since I don't usually like to add too much milk)
250ml liquid (can be broth or water or milk/cream, depends on how you want it to taste - milk/cream will help thicken the soup too)

For cream of mushroom I usually saute chopped large yellow onions until soft & fragrant in butter, then add in all the chopped mushroom to fry until lightly browned. Add flour to absorb the oil, then slowly stir in liquid (usually is vege stock or chicken stock). Cook till thicken.

For cream of chicken it's more tedious. I'll boil the chicken first, keep the stock. Then allow chicken meat to cool and shred with 2 forks. Then I'll lightly toast them to give them a nice roasted taste so that the soup will be fragrant instead of plain chicken soup with milk. Then the cooking of the soup is the same. Heat up fat (usually olive oil for my family), fry onions, fry chicken, add flour, add liquid (chicken stock from boiling the chicken).

Yum yum.

 

[camom]

Hi diymummy,

This is my recipe adapted from a Pancy Seng's cookbook

Ingredients
60g unsalted butter
2 tbsp plain flour
300g fresh button mushroom - chopped
2 bowls stock
80ml fresh cream
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper

Method
Melt butter, add flour and fry till flour turns yellowish. Add chopped mushrooms and fry further.

Pour in stock carefully and allow to boil before adding cream. Season with salt and pepper.

The original recipe had minced garlic n shitake mushroom but I've omitted those.

Btw, bcos we are using cream, don't boil the soup for too long cos it'll turn oily oily.

 

[diymummy]

Thanks stonston and camom mummy

I've been doing stuff the wrong way. I make the stock for soup, fry my mushrooms, add into stock, add cream THEN I add the flour.

Ok... Will try this out soon! Yums!

 

[camom]

Diymummy, you are welcome!

Guess your soup turned gluey when you add the flour into the soup last.

You can do variation with sweetcorn too.

 

[diymummy]

Yeah...

Now I know Hehehe.

 

[camom]

oops, forgot to state that when you add the stock into the fried flour n butter, you need to add bit by bit and whisk, else lumps will still form. Always add liquid to flour. Also, make sure that when you add each time, the vol of liquid is smaller than the mass of flour. Don't pour all at 1 time. GWIM?

 

[diymummy]

Yeah.. get what you mean... Like for your recipe, you use 2 tbsp of flour, so each time I can only add 2 tbsp or less of stock... Err.. right?

I'll give it a try this weekend if I can sneak to the supermarket while I leave son with the hubs.

 

[camom]

no... means 1st time I will add less than 2 tbsp of stock, then add more the next time, making sure that the amt of liquid I add is always lesser than what is in the pan at the time of adding.

 

[diymummy]

Ohhhhhhhhhh.... Okok... I get it....

 

[stonston]

Actually I find adding in bit by bit very leychey & waste of time. I normally pour & stir at the same time. Left hand pour the liquid in slowly, right hand stir nonstop. Don't even need whisk to do this. Normal spoon will do. It's better if you hv wooden spoon. Whisk won't help much with all the other chunky ingredients inside.

 

[diymummy]

Thanks stonston..

Will try it out both ways.

 

[Swimtutor]

Use corn flour or potatoes flour to thicken the soup. Not plain flour please.