Stirring soup is work (4)
I believe the answer is:
opus
'is work' is the definition.
(an opus is an artistic work)
'stirring soup' is the wordplay.
'stirring' indicates an anagram.
'soup' is an anagram of 'OPUS'.
(Other definitions for opus that I've seen before include "Work (mus.)" , "Work of 25 perhaps" , "Showing creative skill" , "Composer's work" , "Work (of a composer?)" .)