Chinese Pork Ball Soup

Soak the noodles for 15 minutes in water from the kettle, then drain well. If your water chestnuts are fresh, peel and chop them, if from a tin, rinse and coarsely chop. Mix the pork, egg white and water by hand (don't use a blender; you want it light and fluffy), then add the water chestnuts, soy sauces, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper and cornflour, mushing it all up with your hands. Divide into 12 parts and make into meatballs.

Heat your wok, add stock, turn it down to a simmer, add the meatballs and stir slowly. Simmer for about 5 minutes, add the noodles and vegetables with another glug of soy sauce and cook for another 5 minutes. Now add the sesame oil and stir well.

cook's notes

A note on stock; form Chinese cooking I make it out of uncooked bones, some wings and other meaty bits, and make it up as normal (skimming and not allowing to boil, only simmer) for forty minutes without stirring. Then turn the heat down to the lowest simmer you can manage. Add some ginger, the white part of spring onions (scallions in America!), garlic cloves you've squashed in their skins, salt and peppercorns to taste. Simmer on your very low heat for 2-4 hours (you'll need to skim the fat off about twice). Strain through a fine sieve or muslin, and freeze until you need it. I usually make a couple of stockpots full at a time and freeze it in ziploc bags in bowls, given that it takes *ages*. It makes a lovely dense, rich stock.