According to our friends at Wikipedia, Asian soups are generally categorized as savoury or sweet with the quality of a savoury soup being determined by its fragrance or umani. Umani (旨み、旨味、うまみ) is Japanese and is one of 5 basic senses of the tongue. Many soups in Asia are eaten or drunk for flavor, health benefits and revitalization effects.

Since many Asian soups are eaten as one of the main dishes particular attention is paid to the soups' stocks. In the case of some soups, the stock ingredients become part of the soup.  Chinese use 3 basic kinds of stock: white (lightly blanched pork bones), shandong (ham) or chicken. Japanese use kelp, skipjack tuna, or a combination of both for their soup base.

GourmetStation has it’s version of Asian soups now in a soup gift that includes 6 portions of gourmet soup, 6 baguettes and 6 bake your own gourmet cookies. Essentially the soup gift is six light meals to be enjoyed throughout the week. The Asian Fusion soup gift includes 3 Spicy Thai Vegetable Soup portions, 3 Coconut Curried Chicken, baguettes and cookies. Although dairy products are not usually used in Asian soups, the coconut curried soup uses a small amount of skim milk giving the coconut enhanced texture akin to silk. Delicious. Try it yourself or give as a unique food gift.

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