Chinese Soup is a light and flavorful soup made with mushrooms, garlic, ginger, spring onions and a few simple seasonings. It has a clear broth and comes together in about 30 minutes. This easy vegetarian recipe is naturally vegan and can also be made gluten-free. Serve it as a starter or pair it with noodles or rice for a satisfying meal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Soup, Starters
  • Cuisine: Chinese, World

Ingredients

  • ½ tablespoon sesame oil (or any preferred oil)
  • ½ teaspoon or 2 to 3 small to medium-sized garlic (– finely chopped)
  • 1 inch or 1 teaspoon ginger (– finely chopped)
  • 2 small-sized or ¼ cup spring onion whites
  • 200 grams or 2 to 2½ cups white button mushrooms (– sliced or chopped)
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons celery (– finely chopped, optional)
  • 3 cups water (or vegetable stock)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce (– gluten-free & naturally fermented or regular soy sauce, add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper (or ground black pepper, add as required)
  • salt (– according to taste)
  • 5 tablespoons spring onion greens (– chopped, for garnish)

Method

Preparation

  1. Rinse, wipe and slice the white button mushrooms.
  2. Slice the spring onions. Finely chop the garlic cloves, ginger and celery stick.

Making Chinese Soup

  1. Heat sesame oil in a pan on a medium flame. Add the chopped garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few seconds.
  2. Next add the sliced spring onion whites and sauté for a minute.
  3. Add the sliced mushrooms and chopped celery.
  4. Stir and saute for two minutes on medium heat.
  5. Pour in 3 cups water and stir to combine.
  6. Simmer the soup uncovered for 4 to 5 minutes on a low to medium heat.
  7. Add soy sauce, crushed black pepper and salt as needed. You can add less or more soy sauce according to your taste preferences.Keep a check on salt as soy sauce already has some salt in it.
  8. Cover pan with a lid and simmer the soup on a low to medium heat for 15 minutes or till the mushrooms are tender and cooked well.
  9. Do check once or twice when the soup is simmering.
  10. When done, switch off the heat. Check the taste and add more soy sauce, black pepper or salt if needed.
  11. Lastly add 5 tablespoons chopped spring onion greens. You can also add bit of rice vinegar, if you prefer.
  12. Serve Chinese soup hot with or without any accompaniment.
  13. The soup can also be served as a starter with a Chinese main course.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.