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Soup

Chinese soups can be served at any stage of the meal. Although the soups are often thin and watery, those included here are more substantial and you could eat them as a meal on their own, for lunch.

All these soups can be garnished with thin slivers of fried garlic, tiny pieces of crisply fried shallot, chopped coriander, mint, chives, parsley or basil, matchstick-sized batons of cucumber and finely chopped green or red chillies.

These little garnishes can be prepared in advance and then placed in bowls on the table so that the diners can help themselves to their taste.

Diners can also add more soy sauce, chilli sauce or indeed a dash of oyster sauce, if liked.

Duck and cabbage soup

1 small plump duck with giblets

3 thin slices peeled fresh root ginger, finely chopped

450 g/1 lb dark green-leaved bok choi

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Prick the breast of the duck with the point of a sharp knife and rub well with salt. Place on a trivet in a roasting tray with a little water and roast breast side down for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. turn the bird over onto its back and roast for a further 60 minutes. When the duck is cooked, take it out of the oven and leave to cool completely, then carve all the flesh from the carcase and put to one side.

2 Break up the carcase and place in a large pan with the giblets and roasting juices, cover with water, add the ginger and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes.

3 Remove the carcase and giblets and skim off any fat that has risen to the surface of the broth.

4 Chop the white stem of the bok choi into thin slices and rip up the green leaves into coarse pieces. Add the bok choi and the duck meat to the broth, heat gently to warm through, then season to taste and serve.

Thick spicy and sour soup

1.5 litres/2¹/₂ pints chicken stock

2.5 cm/1 inch piece black pudding, cut into strips

25 g/1 oz cooked, skinned duck breast, shredded

1 block of tofu or bean curd, shredded

6 or 7 oyster mushrooms, or straw mushrooms, cut into strips

25 g/1 oz shredded bamboo shoots

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped

3 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

1 tablespoon white rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns

1 dessertspoon cornflour mixed with a little cold water to the consistency of single cream

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon chilli oil, to finish

1 Heat the stock in a pan and add all the ingredients except the cornflour mixture, beaten egg and chilli oil.

2 Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

3 Pour in the cornflour mixture and stir until the soup has thickened.

4 Whisk in the beaten egg until it is distributed around the soup and set, then pour the soup into individual bowls, sprinkle with a little chilli oil and serve.

Pork and tomato soup

100 g/3¹/₂ oz very thinly sliced lean pork, cut into strips

2 teaspoons dry sherry, sake or rice wine

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

1.5 litres/2 ¹/₂ pints chicken stock

1 egg, beaten

vegetable oil, for stir-frying

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

freshly chopped coriander leaves, to garnish

1 Put the pork in a bowl with the sherry, sake or rice wine and the soy sauce and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

2 Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and the pork mixture and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, to brown lightly.

3 Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil, then season with salt and pepper, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.

4 Add the beaten egg and stir until the egg is just setting, then serve immediately, garnished with the coriander.

Chicken and ginseng soup

1 litre/ 1³/₄ pints chicken stock

3.5 cm /1 ¹/₂ inches ginseng root, sliced

1 handful of sultanas

1 cm/¹/₂ inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely sliced

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced into strips

2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced

vegetable oil, for frying

sea salt, to taste

1 Bring the stock to the boil in a pan, add the ginseng, sultanas and ginger, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes.

2 Add the chicken and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

3 While the soup is simmering, heat a pan or wok, add a little oil and stir-fry the shallots until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

4 Season the soup with salt, pour into individual bowls and garnish with the crispy shallots.

Fragrant soup with spinach and meatballs

for the meatballs

200 g/7 oz lean pork

1 teaspoon preserved Sichuan mustard (or you could use Dijon)

1 egg white

1 tsp sea salt

¹/₂ red or green chilli, deseeded

a small handful of coriander leaves

1 teaspoon cornflour

for the soup

1.5 litres/2¹/₂ pints chicken stock

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

a splash of rice wine, sake or dry sherry

20 g/³/₄ oz baby spinach leaves, washed and dried

6 straw mushrooms, or chestnut or oyster mushrooms, sliced

1 Place all the ingredients for the meatballs in a food processor and whiz until they are finely minced. Tip the mixture into a bowl and put in the fridge for about 20 minutes to cool and firm up a little.

2 When firmer to handle, roll the meat in your hands into little balls 1-1.5 cm/¹/₂-³/₄ inch in diameter and put to one side.

3 To make the soup, pour the stock into a pan, add the soy sauce and rice wine, sake or sherry and bring to the boil.

4 Reduce the heat to a simmer, carefully drop in the meatballs and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the meatballs are cooked and floating on top of the broth.

5 Take off the heat and add the spinach leaves and mushrooms. Leave until they have just started to wilt, then serve.

Bamboo shoot and meatball soup

for the meatballs

350 g/12 oz slightly fatty pork, minced

3 spring onions, trimmed and very finely chopped

2.5 cm /1 inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon cornflour

freshly ground black pepper

for the soup

1 onion, peeled and chopped fairly finely

1 stringed celery stick, chopped fairly finely

1.5 litres/2¹/₂ pints chicken stock

130 g can bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained and finely sliced

6 or 8 straw mushrooms, or chestnut or oyster mushrooms, sliced into strips

vegetable oil, for frying

sea salt

green leaves of spring onion, finely chopped, to garnish

1 Put all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl and mix thoroughly, then put into the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.

2 Using your hands, form the meatball mixture into small balls about the size of a marble.

3 To make the soup, heat a little oil in a pan and gently fry the onion and celery until they just begin to soften.

4 Add the stock, bamboo shoots and mushrooms and bring to a simmer, then gently drop in the meatballs and simmer for 7-10 minutes until the meatballs are poached. Season the soup with salt, pour into individual bowls, garnish with the spring onion and serve.