Chinese Vegetable and Meatball Soup (Wang Zi Tang)

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Ingredients

For the Meatballs

• 1 dried shiitake mushroom

• A small piece of ginger

• 100g minced pork

• 1/2 egg, beaten

• 1tbsp finely chopped spring onion

• 1/2tsp sesame oil

• 1tsp potato flour

• Salt

• Ground white pepper

For the Soup

• 1.5 litres of stock

• 500g winter melon (or other vegetable - quantity not critical)

• 2tbsp finely sliced spring onion greens

Instructions

• Soak the mushroom in hot water from the kettle for 30 minutes. Crush the ginger with the flat of a knife and put into a glass of cold water

• Take the mushroom and chop it finely. Put the pork in a bowl and add 1tbsp of the ginger-soaked water. Add all the other meatball ingredients and stir vigorously. Season with salt and pepper

• Bring the stock to the boil in a pan. If you are using winter melon, peel, cut away the seedy section sections in the centre, then cut into 1/2cm - 1cm slices. Add to the water and simmer until tender, seasoning with salt and pepper

• Reduce heat to a simmer, then add the meatballs - take some of the paste in your hand, squash with your fist and allow a walnut-sized ball to be squeezed between your thumb and index finger and fall into the pan

• Simmer for 5 minutes until the meatballs are cooked and have risen to the surface. Place in a serving bowl, scatter a few spring onion greens on top, then serve

bon appetit