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Chinese Watercress Soup
This simple recipe, inspired by Chinese tonic soups, is quick and easy to make, packed full of nutrition, and delicious to boot. If you can get your hands on some Chinese or even Virginia country ham, use that instead of bacon. Bacon will definitely do the trick, though.
Wild-harvested watercress should be washed thoroughly and should always be cooked if collected from a stream with a slightly dubious source. You can also purchase watercress from many international or specialty grocery stores, especially in the spring. If you can’t find watercress, other greens like nettle, spinach, mizuna, choys, arugula, etc. would work as well.
Serve this soup as a light lunch or as a side to a large meal. If serving it as a meal, this recipe will likely only make enough for 2 people.
- Prep Time10 min
- Cook Time10 min
- Total Time20 min
- Yield2 servings as a meal, 4 as a side
Ingredients
- 2 strips of bacon or Chinese ham, sliced thinly
- 2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 bunch watercress, leaves and tender stems only
- 4 cups game or vegetable stock
- 1 tomato, cut into thin wedges
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- Kosher salt to taste
Preparation
Fry bacon strips until they reach medium doneness (fat rendered, but not crispy) over medium heat.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the watercress, and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock, tomato, white pepper, and oyster sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed. Enjoy!
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