Chinese Watercress Soup

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Adam Berkelmans

Managing Editor at Harvesting Nature

Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.

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Latest posts by Adam Berkelmans (see all)

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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 be cooked if collected from a stream with a dubious source. You can also purchase watercress from many international or specialty grocery stores, especially in the spring.

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.

Serves: 2 as a meal, or 4 as a side-soup
Time to make: 20 minutes
Also make with: stinging nettle, lambsquarters

Looking for more watercress recipes? Try out this Crawfish and Watercress Salad!

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Chinese Watercress Soup

Recipe by Adam Berkelmans

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Wild RecipesCuisine: Chinese

Servings

2-4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

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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