Soup Queens is inspired by my grandma’s story. She is from Taishan, China and lived a very challenging life raising five children by herself. Being the resourceful and creative woman that she was, her children were always fed and clothed. Since they didn’t have a refrigerator, she would dry her seafood and meats. Since they didn’t have a lot of money, she would make soup with the vegetables and dried protein she was able to gather. She taught her children and grandchildren that dried ingredients preserve nutrition and create a deeper flavor. Once her family immigrated to America, she found a job ironing clothes at a sewing factory where she earned $0.10 per shirt. After being on her feet all day, she would come home and make soup for her family. After she retired at the age of 60, she committed to the role of babysitting her 6 grandkids. Every morning, she would prepare her soup ingredients and take me to preschool.
My parents were always on the go, so my grandma would package zip lock bags of herbal ingredients to make it easy for my mom to make soup for my family. When I was 2 years old, my parents heard of an opportunity and ventured to Mexico to start a seafood canning factory. Remembering my grandma’s idea of drying seafood, my mom started making and drying her own abalone topshell.
When I started college and then a career, I was living by myself and became an expert at making spaghetti and sandwiches. There were times I craved the soup from my childhood, but I didn’t know how to make it. So, I settled for quick and conventional Swanson Chicken Broth, Campbell’s Chunky Soup, and Progresso Soup. Now as I enter my 30s, I realize that I did not want to forget about my grandmother’s soups nor forget my Chinese heritage. My mom started packing herbal soup mixes for me just as my grandmother did for her. Herbal soup has often been associated as a specialty food item in the Chinese culture. However, there has been many fusion across all cultures.
Thus Soup Queens was born, the idea is to bring a modern twist on traditional soup recipes.
Disclaimer: Soup Queens is a passion project inspired by family recipes. We are not certified professionals and cannot provide medical advice.
