The comfort in a bowl of soup goes beyond the warmth of its soothing broth. Last week, when a group of soup makers representing the various cultures of Hawaii’s Plantation Village gathered to share their recipes, they talked about more than winter melon, green papaya, rice noodles, or beans and sausage.

At the heart of their discussions were stories of tradition and family recipes, and the way a dish — in this case, soup — is so embedded in a culture that it’s at once universal and deeply intimate, tailored just so to suit every family.

On Ethnic Soup Day, Saturday at the village, these soup experts will be part of a lineup offering Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino, Okinawan and Vietnamese soups by the bowl. The event is part of a yearlong celebration of the village’s 25th anniversary. Festivities kicked off in September and will continue with monthly events.

These four classic soups come from folks who are so expert at making them, they don’t even use measurements. (In fact, it took quite a bit of effort to arrive at some of these recipes.) When Steven Pang, maker of a Chinese winter melon soup, was asked how much whiskey to add to his broth, he answered, “Just pour it in until your heart says it’s enough.” Talk about soul food.

Dan Nelson says Portuguese bean soup is “one of those whatever-you’ve-got-in-the-kitchen kind of things.” But there are limits — as in, do not confuse kale with Portuguese cabbage, as many do. “It is NOT the same thing,” stressed Nelson, noting that kale is bitter while Portuguese cabbage is sweet. Since the latter is hard to find, he recommends head cabbage.

From there, however, proceed as you like: Ham hocks or Portuguese sausage? Beans or not? Cabbage or no cabbage? The recipe here reflects a soup from many decades ago, when watercress was a staple vegetable and folks relied on papaya for its thickening properties.

PORTUGUESE BEAN AND VEGETABLE SOUP

From “The Pleasures of Portuguese Cooking,” by the Portuguese Pioneer Civic Association

• 1 (1-pound) package dried kidney beans
• 1-pound ham shank
• 6 cups water, divided, plus more, if needed
• 1 pound Portuguese sausage
• 1 meaty beef shank
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 half-ripe papaya, cubed
• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 large carrots, cubed
• 3 potatoes, cubed
• 1 small cabbage, chopped
• 1 bunch watercress, cut into 1-inch lengths

Rinse beans. In pot, combine beans, ham shank and 4 cups water. Cover and simmer 1 hour or until beans and ham are tender.

Remove bone and cut ham into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Slice Portuguese sausage. Remove meat from beef shank and cut into bite-size pieces. In large pot, brown sausage, beef and beef bone. Add salt, pepper, onion, celery and papaya; saute lightly. Stir in tomato sauce and vinegar; cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Add carrots, potatoes and remaining water. Cook about 10 minutes. Stir in cabbage and watercress; cook another 5 minutes and add additional water as necessary.

Stir in beans and ham; season to taste. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 12.

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Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 400 calories, 10 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 1,000 mg sodium, 50 g carbohydrate, 14 g fiber, 8 g sugar, 29 g protein.

THE CLASSIC Filipino dish of chicken and green papaya is so ubiquitous, said Merlinda Oania, that everyone adapts it to their own liking. This recipe is her mother’s, a pared-down version with very little seasoning. “My mother had heart trouble and couldn’t have lots of spices,” she explained. But fish sauce is commonly added.

Oania makes use of what’s available. “I tasted one with eggplant slices. It was good,” she said. “I even had one with zucchini circles. Use whatever you have at home. In the Philippines we use papaya because that’s what we have, and chili pepper leaves that are peppery but not hot.”

This recipe calls for marungay leaves, which Oania blanches in chicken broth, then spreads on a baking sheet to dry them out a bit, preserving their texture and color. She is also careful not to overcook the papaya, which she says should maintain some body and a slight crunch.

CHICKEN TINOLA

By Merlinda Oania

• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ginger, crushed
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 (32-ounce) box chicken broth
• 3 stalks lemongrass
• 2 pounds chicken, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 2 pounds green papaya, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups marungay leaves

In pot, saute onion, garlic and ginger until onion is translucent. Add salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and lemongrass. Bring to a boil. Add chicken. Cook 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove chicken and set aside. Add papaya to pot. Cook 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

In shallow pan, add 1/2 cup of soup from pot and bring to boil. Add marungay leaves; immediately turn off heat. Stir, then spread leaves on cookie sheet and air-dry 2 to 3 minutes.

To serve: In deep bowl, place papaya, layer with chicken and top with marungay leaves. Add enough soup to cover chicken and papaya. Serve hot. Serves about 6.

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Approximate nutritional information (not including salt to taste): 350 calories, 21 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 800 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 23 g protein.

CHINESE winter melon soup can be presented in dramatic fashion, in the winter melon itself. The large gourd (doong gwa in Chinese, togan in Japanese) can easily weigh 15 pounds. Steven Pang starts with broth made with pork bones from Pacific Supermarket or Seafood City, both in Waipahu. Sometimes Don Quijote has bones as well.

Pang’s an advocate of making the recipe your own: Use chicken bones instead of pork, or use chicken broth for ease; add ham instead of pork hash. His mother dried jabong (pomelo) peel and tore off a piece to add to the pot for a citrusy flavor. “Sometimes you do this, sometimes you do that,” he said. “If no mo’ something, use something else.”

CHINESE WINTER MELON SOUP

By Steven Pang

• 15 cups water
• Pork bones (substitute with chicken bones)
• 1/4 pound pork hash
• 2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
• 1 tablespoon small dried scallops (use smallest you can find, available at ethnic markets), soaked, with water reserved
• 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped into small pieces, water reserved
• 6 seedless, dried jujube, soaked for a couple of hours (available at ethnic markets)
• 2 pounds or more winter melon, cut into 1-inch cubes (available at ethnic markets)
• 1 cup cooked barley
• 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons whiskey or sherry
• Oyster sauce, to taste (optional)

Start by making broth: In large pot, add water and bones; bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer 1 hour. Strain liquid and return to pot.

Add pork hash, chicken, scallops and scallop water, shiitake and shiitake water, jujube, winter melon and barley. Simmer 45 minutes, until melon is soft. As soup cooks, break up pork hash into small pieces. Monitor liquid and add water as necessary.

Stir in five-spice, bouillon powder and whiskey; cook 5 minutes. Adjust taste if necessary. Add oyster sauce, if desired. Serves about 8.

Flavor variations:chung choy (salted dried turnip), shoyu, small piece dried jabong or tangerine skin, ham instead of pork hash, bigger scallops, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts.

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Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 160 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 700 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, no sugar, 11 g protein

SEAGULL TAYLOR, a native of Vietnam, married an American military man and cultivated a taste of home as she travled with her husband around the globe. Her dish of choice: pho, the classic Vietnamese noodle soup. But pulling off that soup wherever she went took creativity, like growing her own Thai basil indoors, off of stems.

No need for that in Hawaii. Her favorite place to shop is at New Cholon, 169 N. King St., a Vietnamese grocer in Chinatown. On the ingredient list is a packaged pho spice pack, complete with a cloth spice bag that’s added to the broth pot, and a pho soup base that boosts its flavor.

Taylor figured out a way to cook the broth that suited her busy lifestyle as a wife and mother: the slow cooker.

“I do beef pho. I cook the broth for 24 hours in the Crock-Pot, and the rich flavors from the marrow come out,” she said.

BEEF PHO

By Seagull Taylor

• 2 (11-ounce) packages frozen beef meatballs, or to taste
• 40 pieces thinly sliced beef, or to taste
• 1 (14-ounce) package dry rice noodles, cooked
• >> Broth:
• 4 pounds beef bones
• 1 package pho spices
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 medium fresh ginger root, peeled and lightly roasted
• 1 large onion, lightly roasted
• 4 tablespoons pho soup base, or more to taste
• Garnishes: green onions, fresh Thai basil, lime wedges, chili pepper (optional), Sriracha sauce (for dipping, optional), pho hoisin sauce (for dipping, optional)

To make broth: In 6-quart slow cooker, add beef bones, pho spice packet, cinnamon, ginger and onion, then fill with water. Cook 24 hours: on high 4 to 8 hours, then on low for the remaining time.

Transfer to stock pot and add more water as necessary — each bowl should have about 2 cups broth. Over medium-low, simmer broth and add pho soup base, stir and taste. Add more soup base as necessary. Simmer until ready to serve.

Defrost meatballs in microwave and slice in half. For well-done meat slices, drop meat in pot for a minute to cook through.

In each serving bowl, place 1/8 of noodles. Cover with hot broth, then add meatball halves and meat slices (raw slices will cook in bowl). Garnish with green onions, basil, lime and chili pepper if using. Serve with Sriracha and hoisin if desired. Serves 8.

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Nutritional information unavailable.