12 clear soup recipes

Ukha, a traditional Russian clear salmon soup with a layered fish stock clarified to golden perfection. Poached salmon fillets, potatoes, and carrots in a sparkling broth garnished with lemon.

Misoshiru (Japanese miso soup): the traditional soybean-paste soup built on dashi broth and served with simple garnishes. Two ingredients, endless variations, ready in 15 minutes.

Spinach and long white radish soup: a clear beef broth scented with juniper and tarragon, loaded with daikon, potato, and spinach, brightened with lemon and turmeric. An unusual, fresh spring bowl.

Turkey noodle soup made from scratch with homemade bone broth, zucchini, carrots, and herbs. A from-the-carcass soup that turns leftover turkey bones into a rich, clear broth.

Liver dumplings (leberknödel) blend scraped beef liver with lard, breadcrumbs, egg, and parsley, then poach in clear broth. Single-serving Austrian-German soup garnish.

Homemade beef bouillon simmered for six hours from beef shank, soup bones, cloves, and root vegetables. Strained and reduced to a rich, clear broth.

Italian chicken escarole soup with homemade broth simmered from chicken pieces, onion, celery, and parsley, strained clear, then finished with chopped escarole and grated cheese.

Orjaleves is a traditional Hungarian pork and beef bone soup: a rich, clear golden broth perfumed with paprika and saffron, full of root vegetables, tender pork and hand-rolled spiral egg noodles. A heritage feast-day soup.

A simple slow-roasted pork picnic shoulder that cooks low and unattended until the juices run clear. One roast stretches into three meals: sliced for sandwiches, diced for soup, and served with gravy.

Ukha, the classic Russian fish soup, made with a double-stock of smelts and salmon clarified with egg white. Crystal-clear broth with poached salmon, potatoes, and carrots in every elegant bowl.

DASHI STOCK is Japanese clear soup stock. There are four types made from kelp, dried bonito, shitake mushroom, or dried fish. Dashi stock is the secret of Japanese cooking. To keep this strictly vegetarian, I omit the dried bonito flakes and substitute with soy bean sprouts and or mushrooms.

A culinary school-style white chicken stock made from blanched bones, mirepoix, and a classic sachet of herbs and spices. Simmered for hours and strained into a clear, clean-flavored foundation for soups and sauces.