Everyday soup

This simple soup got Adam Liaw through his early twenties, while living in Japan. Simple, comforting and endlessly adaptable, it starts with a base of chicken stock, Chinese cabbage and whatever else you have on hand in the fridge and pantry.

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• ½ Chinese cabbage, cut into 5 cm pieces
• 4 thick spring onions, cut into 5 cm lengths
• 2 slices ginger
• 150 g enoki mushrooms
• 200 g skinless pork belly, thinly sliced into 3 cm pieces
• 200 g fishballs
• 300 g classic (firm) tofu, drained, cut into 2 cm cubes
• Salt and white pepper

Instructions

1. Bring 2 litres of water to the boil in a large saucepan. Once the water lightly simmers, add the chicken stock concentrate, Shaoxing wine, Chinese cabbage, spring onion and ginger. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the cabbage softens.
2. Add the mushrooms, pork belly, fishballs and tofu and simmer for a further 5 minutes, or until cooked. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, then remove from the heat.
3. Divide the everyday soup between bowls and serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.