Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣湯)

This classic authentic Chinese hot and sour soup combines tender pork, earthy mushrooms, and delicate egg ribbons in a rich, comforting broth. It is a hearty starter or light meal that brings restaurant-quality flavor straight to your family table.

Whether you want a traditional Sichuan hot and sour soup or a fast weeknight option, this streamlined method balances tangy black vinegar with gentle chili warmth for perfect results every time.

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Papaya and Chicken Feet Soup (Instant Pot + Stove Top Recipe)

Hope the chicken feet won’t scare you off. As a matter of fact, this soup is very tasty, as a result it earned its popularity in Chinese community. This soup is put on high priority on my menu as my family loves it so much.

When I first moved into Australia, I could ask for chicken feet for free from supermarkets because most Australian didn’t like chicken feet. So the staff would throw them away. They’re so glad that if you asked and would give you a large packet. Now a small amount of chicken feet costs quite expensive instead.

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Chinese Dumpling Soup (上湯水餃)

This comforting Chinese Dumpling Soup recipe features plump, handmade pork and prawn dumplings served in a rich, soothing broth. Enjoy authentic Hong Kong noodle shop flavor right from your kitchen with simple, nourishing ingredients.

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Imitation Shark Fin Soup

Recreate classic Hong Kong street food at home with this simple, fast, and satisfying Imitation Shark Fin Soup. Also known as wun zai ci (碗仔翅), this rich and hearty Chinese soup delivers restaurant-quality comfort without relying on expensive or un-environmental real shark fin. By combining tender shredded chicken, pork, earth-rich black mushrooms, and translucent cellophane noodles, you can recreate that iconic street-hawker flavor completely hassle-free!

Cooking at home allows us to appreciate life's simple blessings—sharing a warm bowl of soup with loved ones brings pure joy and simple nourishment to any table. This easy quick soup recipe balances rich chicken broth, savory dark soy sauce, and delicate textures to satisfy your cravings while keeping your meal light, wholesome, and nutritious.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Quick & Hassle-Free: Takes only 10 minutes of prep time and 25 minutes of cooking for a flawless finish.
• Eco-Friendly & Budget-Smart: Uses silky cellophane noodles (glass noodles) to achieve the signature silky texture without real shark fin.
• Authentic Street Food Taste: Recreates the nostalgic Hong Kong night market flavor with accessible everyday ingredients.

Key Tips for Success

• Use Water Chestnut Flour for Thickening: Water chestnut flour gives the soup its iconic glossy transparency and velvety sheen, though cornstarch can also be used as a simple backup.
• Thinly Shred the Ingredients: Ensure the chicken, pork, and mushrooms are sliced into uniform, thin strips so every spoonful offers a balanced bite.
• Add Eggs Last: Drizzle the beaten egg gently after stirring in the thickener to create delicate, beautiful egg ribbons throughout the soup.

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Imitation Shark Fin Soup Recipe

(Printable recipe) By Christine's Recipes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 50 gm skinless chicken breast
• 50 gm lean pork, shredded
• 20 gm Chinese black mushroom, soaked at least 4 hours until soften
• 10 gm dried black fungus, soaked until soften
• 50 gm cellophane noodles, soaked until soften
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
• 2 cups water

Seasoning:

• 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• a dash of sesame oil
• white pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste

Thickening:

• 2 Tbsp water chestnut flour
• 4 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Soak black mushrooms, dried black fungus and cellophane noodles separately until soften and drain well. Remove the hard stems of black mushrooms (you can save the stems to cook other Chinese soups if you like), cut into small strips. Trim the dried black fungus. Section cellophane noodles. Set aside.
2. Shred chicken breast and pork into thin strips.
3. Bring chicken broth and water to the boil. Add chicken, pork, black mushroom, dried black fungus and cook for a while until all ingredients are cooked through and softened. Add cellophane noodles and seasoning. Add salt to taste. When it boils again, stir in thickening and beaten egg, mix well. Remove from heat. Use a small bowl to serve!

Notes:

• The water chestnut flour is the best for cooking this soup because it creates a clear, crystal soup. You still can use other starch though.
• Yes, if salted chicken broth is used, decrease or omit the salt then.

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Borscht Soup with Garlic Bread Recipe

Borscht (or Borshch) is a hearty beetroot vegetable soup considered to originate from Ukraine or Eastern Russia. Can’t you believe it? It’s very popular in Hong Kong, yet with a tweak of adding more flavours. It's wonderfully tasty indeed.

You’ll easily find Borscht in the set lunch/dinner menu of cafés run by Hong Kong people. They often use beef soup and add some tenderized beef chunks going with all kind of vegetables.

You might think it’s not that kind of original Borscht, but many Hong Kong people like having some meat or bones to cook soup. My family also likes to have a piece of toasted garlic bread to go with this soup. We just feel that we don’t need anything else, totally satisfied.

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Wood Ear and Chicken Soup

Wood ear is a kind of edible fungus often used in Chinese cooking. Wood ear is black in colour, so looks not quite appealing to eyes. Yet, we can’t underestimate its value to our health. It can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

I often use wood ear in my cooking, like Chinese New Year traditional dish, stir-fry with chicken, make the classic hot and sour soup and imitation shark fin soup.  If you feel like having a vegetarian dish, wood ear will work with many vegetables. You can make this Stir Fried Bean Sprouts, Carrots & Wood Ear Fungus dish. When I make dumplings, I also like putting in some wood ear to add a texture in the fillings. Ever thought about making san choi bao (lettuce wraps) with wood ears? They taste really good with roast duck meat too.

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Seaweed, Tofu & Pork Mince Soup

This seaweed, tofu & pork mince soup is very quick to make. It's simple, tasty and nourishing, suitable for serving all year round.

Seaweed is commonly used in oriental cuisine like Japanese, Korean and Chinese. I often use the seasoned seaweed to add flavours in soup, sometimes cook soups with the unflavoured ones, that normally comes in dried sheet form.

Just soak a sheet of seaweed in water until it softens. After rinsing thoroughly, it’s ready to cook with other ingredients I like.

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Ginseng Goji Chicken Soup (Instant Pot + Stove Top Recipe)

This Ginseng Goji Chicken Soup (花旗參杞子雞湯) is one of my favourite traditional Chinese ones that I enjoyed so much throughout the year. The soup is commonly simmered for long hours to intensify the flavours.

The ginseng has lots of health benefits. Study shows that ginseng can help to boost our immune system and lower blood sugar levels. Ginseng tastes a subtle bitterness, striking a balance of the sweetness of goji berries and candied dates in the soup. After seasoning with a bit of sea salt, this chicken soup tastes so good.

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Chinese Yam Goji and Pork Ribs Soup

Chinese yam (huáishān 淮山 in Chinese) is quite often used in making soups. It helps to lower blood sugar and cholesterol, revive our appetite and contains antioxidants.

I love adding some goji berries as they’re good for eye health. So this Chinese yam and goji soup is so nourishing.

Tastewise, it’s very delicious. You can see the recipe below that pork bones, several red dates and dried scallops are added to create a depth of flavours. Give it a try. Your family will like this soup as much as we do.

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Seafood & Tofu Soup (Quick Chinese Soup)

Being part of a luncheon is one of my favourite activities here. Not only am I able to taste different yummy foods cooked by my friends, but also can I be inspired by many new cooking ideas.

Before going to Tokyo, I went to a luncheon. One of my best friends, Kitty cooked a big bowl of soup for us. We were so curious about what’s inside. She told us, in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, that’s seafoods and tofu soup. For us, it sounds amazing because many of us have seldom tried this soup before. When the soup was served, it’s topped with some Japanese weeds, that made the soup look more appealing to our appetite. The seafoods were really fresh, going so well with the silky tofu. Only one word did I find to describe the soup, it’s “incredible”.

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Beef Brisket Rice Vermicelli Soup (Hong Kong Cuisine)

Here comes another popular Hong Kong noodle soup, Beef Brisket Rice Vermicelli Soup. The tender beef brisket goes really well with any noodles soup, including ho fun (aka flat rice noodles 河粉), rice vermicelli or egg noodles. It's perfect served as a light meal.

You might have known the wonton soup already. Ever tried this beef brisket noodle soup before?

The stewed beef brisket is so tender and goes really well with any noodles, egg noodles or rice vermicelli. As I shared previously, my mother-in-law is an expert in cooking beef brisket stew. I used her tricks to cook the beef brisket beforehand, then pop them in my fridge.

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Wood Ear and Red Date Soup

This wood ear and red date soup is suitable for women in the first month after childbirth, served as confinement food. Nevertheless, it’s good for anyone, female or male adults in the family for its nutrients.

Wood ear is widely used in Chinese cuisine as it helps to reduce blood pressure, clear away cholesterol, thus improve blood circulation. Chinese people also name it as “blood vessel cleaner”. Wood ear contains rich protein and vitamin B, but low in calories.

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Tom Yum Soup (Easy Version)

Tom Yum Soup is very delicious and well accepted by different countries. Whenever we go to a Thai restaurant, we won’t forget to order one to ease our craving. This is my take on this classic Thai soup. It’s quick, easy and delicious.

The Tom Yum soup base is very crucial and it’s the soul of the whole dish. The soup tastes hot and sour with lots of fragrant spices and herbs. You can add any meat or vegetables you like in the soup.

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Kimchi Chicken Udon Soup (+Video)

This kimchi chicken soup udon has included protein, vegetables, noodles, as well as kimchi to enhance the taste of the soup, which is very delicious. The layers of taste are very rich. This udon soup can be served as a quick light meal.

Not only can Kimchi be served as a starter or side dish, but also can be a key ingredient to cook a delicious udon soup dish. It goes well with chicken. Other kinds of meat or seafood are also good choices.

Take a look at the ingredients list, I used chicken thighs that are cut into thick strips and marinated. The chicken meat doesn’t need to be cooked for a long time. It can be cooked through very quickly.

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Chicken and Tomato Soup (Pressure Cooker + Stove Top Recipe)

This soup recipe can be served as a base to make your own using up your leftovers. Both instructions of using Instant Pot and stove-top are inserted. Enjoy!

This is one of my favourite meals, packed with flavours and nutrients. If you have an electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot, it can be done within 20 minutes. Or without an Instant Pot, you can also make this delicious soup dish with a large pot on stove at ease.

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Fresh Corn Soup (Creamy with Crunchy Bits)

Corns are often used in both Chinese or Western cooking. They are sweet and nutritious, loaded with dietary fibre and enriched with vitamin B, good for eyes. It even may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

Previously I posted a corn soup recipe using canned creamed corns, it’s handy, quick and delicious. It’s a keeper for any hectic days or when I don’t feel like cooking too long in the kitchen.

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Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup

Every now and then, I love having meatless light meal. This vegetarian hot and sour soup is my favourite one.

The original hot and sour soup that we used to have will need a small amount of shredded pork or chicken. This meatless version needs something to add flavours for sure. Thus the vegetable broth base is the most important part. Both shiitake mushrooms and spicy tofu are good ingredients to add umami taking this soup dish up a notch.

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Watercress and Monk Fruit Soup

I often like using watercress to make Chinese long-boiled soup (老火湯). Watercress and monk fruit soup is one of my favourites. It’s both comforting and nourishing.

To make watercress soup, if not doing it right, it tastes bitter. Some of my readers asked me if I have any tips on removing the bitterness of watercress soup. Yes, I have.

My mother-in-law, an expert of making watercress soup, once taught me her trick of how to make watercress soup without bitterness.

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Lotus and Dried Octopus Soup (Pressure Cooker + Stovetop Recipe)

Have you tried this old-fashioned Chinese soup —— Lotus and Dried Octopus Soup? This soup is very popular and well-liked in Hong Kong. This soup tastes very delicious with a slightly sweetness and a depth of flavours. Traditionally, it’s a soup enjoyed in winter. To myself, it’s a soup can be enjoyed all year round.

Chinese people like long-cooked soup (aka “old fire” soup in Chinese, 老火湯). It normally takes at least 2 to 3 hours or much longer to make an old-fire soup. The soup has a depth of flavours.

Dried octopus (章魚) is quite often used in making Chinese “old fire” soups. Don’t mix it up with dried squid as a snack, which is marinated with seasonings. Dried octopus shouldn’t have any seasonings added, but simply have gone through a sun-dried process traditionally. It’ll bring a new dimension of flavours into the stock.

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Italian Meatball Minestrone Soup

This Italian Meatball Minestrone Soup is one of my all-time favourite autumn or winter dishes. This one-pot soup dish is packed with flavours and easy to whip up on the go. You can’t go wrong with this no-brainer recipe.

I didn’t make my own meat balls from scratch, simply get some Angus beef sausages from the supermarket. It saved me a lot of time and energy.

The beef sausages meat, full of flavours, went really well with all the vegetables I put into the pot.

Believe it or not, this soup can be made within 30 minutes.

These are the organic red kidney beans and organic cannellini beans I used. They are full of nutrients your body needs. The soup texture is also enriched as well. Simply drain the water out, then put the beans in the soup.

How wonderful it’d be when you’re served with a bowl of hot soup. It helps beat away the chilling weather.

Oh well, if the weather is warm up again, this soup is also fantastic. Simply turn myself into a not-in-a-hurry mode, patiently wait for a little while. After it cools a bit, I can immediately dig in and enjoy this flavoursome minestrone soup.

A side note, if you’re going for vegan meals, simply skip the beef and use vegetable stock. You’re good to go then.

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