Name: Mixed Chinese Vegetable Soup
Yield: Makes 8 Servings
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 2 shallots, finely chopped; ¼ cup medium-dry sherry; 2 cups tightly packed Chinese spinach, water spinach, regular spinach, or watercress leaves; ¼ cup dried tree ears, soaked in water to cover for 30 minutes, hard parts removed, torn into 1-inch pieces; 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil; 12 medium-size dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in just enough boiling water to cover for 30 minutes or in cold water for 3 hours, or 12 fresh shiitake mushrooms; ¼ pound Smithfield ham, cut into ⅛- by 1-inch shreds; 7 cups Chinese-style chicken broth or vegetable broth; 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce; 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 1 cake of tofu (preferably Chinese-style), cut into ¼-inch dice; 2 ounces Chinese preserved vegetable

Preparation info

Makes
8
Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Splendid Soups

By James Peterson

Published 2000

About

There are no doubt strict rules governing what combinations of vegetables go into certain regional Chinese soups, but I’ve never cooked by the book. I like to play around with a few recipes until I get a feel for a style of cooking. So review the section on China in Ethnic Soups and take off from there.

The best place to start experimenting with Chinese cooking is in an Asian market. I’m lucky enough to live in New York, with its large Chinatown, where I can wander from store to sto