Ching’s Fast Food: 110 Quick and Healthy Chinese Favourites. Ching-He Huang

and cook for 5 minutes or until they all rise to the surface – like floating clouds, as the Chinese might say.

      4. Pour the soup and dumplings into serving bowls, allowing 7 dumplings per person. Add a dash of toasted sesame oil to each bowl, scatter over a few of the watercress leaves (letting them wilt in the bowl), finish with a sprinkling of sliced spring onions and serve immediately.

      CHING’S TIP

      If any filling is left over, make more dumplings and freeze. They can be cooked from frozen for an emergency supper.

      Pork rib, turnip and carrot broth with coriander

      This is one of my grandfather’s favourite recipes. It is not standard takeaway fare, but there are many takeaway and eat-in restaurants in Taiwan that serve this kind of pork rib soup (pai-gu tang) to accompany salty main dishes. Eaten between mouthfuls of the main dish, it works as a palate cleanser. It is a light sweet broth, the daikon (white radish) adding a slight bittersweetness to complement the meatiness of the pork ribs. When I eat it, it always reminds me of my grandmother’s home cooking. If I had my own takeaway, this soup would be on the menu, no question.

      PREP TIME: 10 minutes COOK IN: 25 minutes SERVES: 4

      250g (9oz) pork ribs, cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces

      2 tbsps of vegetable bouillon powder or stock powder

      350g (12oz) daikon (white radish), sliced into 1cm (½in) rounds, each cut into 6 wedges

      2 carrots, cut into 1cm (½in) rounds, each quartered into wedges

      1 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

      Sea salt and ground white pepper

      Handful of roughly chopped coriander

      1. Prepare the pork ribs by blanching them in boiling water for 2 minutes and then drain well. Bring 1 litre (134 pints) of water to the boil in a large saucepan and add the bouillon or stock powder, stirring it to dissolve.

      2. Add the pork ribs, daikon, carrots and rice wine or dry sherry. Bring back up to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and ground white pepper, add the chopped coriander and serve immediately.

      Posh crab and crayfish tail sweetcorn soup

      To me, a good takeaway would serve this soup. It may be relatively expensive, but it is so worth it. I usually have a few tins of crabmeat and sweetcorn in my store cupboard and this makes a delicious quick, light supper. If you are entertaining, you can jazz up this recipe by topping it with some cooked crayfish tails and serve with some toasted rye bread and butter. You could also substitute the tinned crabmeat with fresh crabmeat for a treat.

      PREP TIME: 5 minutes COOK IN: 15 minutes SERVES: 4

      2 x 170g tins of crabmeat in brine, drained

      2 x 200g tins of sweetcorn, drained

      1 large ripe tomato, sliced

      2 eggs, beaten

      3 tbsps of light soy sauce

      1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil

      Sea salt and ground white pepper

      2 tbsps of cornflour mixed with 4 tbsps of water

      1 large spring onion, finely sliced

      180g (6½oz) cooked crayfish tails in brine, drained

      1. Pour 1 litre (134 pints) of water into a large wok or saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the crabmeat, sweetcorn and tomato and bring back up to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

      2. Add the beaten eggs and stir gently to create a web-like pattern in the soup as the eggs start to cook. Season with the soy sauce, sesame oil and salt and pepper, adding more to taste if necessary. Bring to the boil and then stir in the cornflour paste to thicken the soup. Reduce the heat, sprinkle in the spring onion and leave to simmer on a gentle heat until ready to serve.

      3. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, top with a few crayfish tails (which will warm through in the heat of the soup) and serve immediately.

      ALSO TRY

      You could substitute the crabmeat with cooked sliced chicken breast or, for a vegetarian option, use diced marinated dofu or sliced shiitake mushrooms (or chestnut mushrooms if you are on a budget). If you want a creamier consistency, use tins of creamed sweetcorn instead.

      Mum’s herbal eel soup

      I wanted to include this more unusual recipe even though it doesn’t really have a connection to Chinese takeaways in the West. In Hong Kong, on the other hand, there are eateries that serve herbal soups such as this to take away. Don’t be put off by the sound of this soup – it’s actually quite delicious, although admittedly an acquired taste. You will either love or hate it – for me, it’s love. It’s also very good for you. If you can, add a few dried goji berries to the soup 15 minutes before the cooking time is up; it lends a mellow sweetness to the broth. These, together with the other herbs, can be bought from a Chinese supermarket.

      PREP TIME: 5 minutes COOK IN: 65 minutes SERVES: 4

      600g (1lb 5oz) fresh river eel, head and tail discarded and any fins removed (or ask your fishmonger to do this for you)

      2 tbsps of Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

      ½ tsp of salt

      1 tbsp of vegetable bouillon powder or stock powder

      5g (¼oz) Angelica sinensis (Chinese angelica or dong quai)

      5g (¼oz) rhizome of rehmannia

      8g (¹/₃ oz) Ligusticum wallichii (Sichuan lovage)

      5g (¼oz) matrimony vine

      5 dried red dates

      2 x 5cm (2in) sticks of cassia

      1 x 5cm (2in) stick of cinnamon

      Small handful of dried goji berries (optional)

      1. Slice the eel into 5cm (2in) pieces, keeping the bones intact, then rinse well. Place the pieces in a large saucepan of boiling water to blanch for 2 minutes and then drain and set aside.

      2. Place the blanched eels back in the pan. Pour in 1.5 litres (2½ pints) of water and add all the remaining ingredients except the goji berries. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour or until the eel is tender and delicious. If using the goji berries, add these for the final 15 minutes of cooking.

      ALSO TRY

      If you’re not so keen on the idea of cooking eel, then simply substitute it with chicken or pork ribs.

Appetisers

      ‘No, Peking duck is better.’ This is what my father would insist whenever he