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Green Tea Dumpling Soup

Chinese new year has arrived, it’s now the year of the goat/sheep, and lots of people across Asia have been celebrating the start of the lunar new year. I was lucky enough to spend the new year celebrations in Vietnam – Tet, which it is called here, is a 3-day-long-celebration, with lots of fun festivals and special Tet treats. If you happen to be in London, you should definitely head to Chinatown on Sunday 22nd as there will be the official new year’s celebrations. It’s proper festival atmosphere down there – if you’re not sure, but if you prefer to make a feast at home, I have a great recipe for you here.

But, now over to this Chinese New Year inspired post: a dumpling green tea soup. It may sound unusual, but in Japan, you sometimes come across tea soups, where freshly brewed green  tea is poured over rice and eaten as a simple snack. I’ve taken the idea but made a proper broth with green tea, adding dried tuna flakes (bonito) to it, ginger and spring onions. It’s a really lovely, pure soup that will make you feel fresh and revitalized.

The broth is actually really quick to make – and you can add all kinds of yummies to it. Try rice, steamed vegetables or meatballs instead of the dumplings in my recipe.

Oh, and if you can’t be bothered to make your own dumplings, you can use ready-made frozen ones – just steam them for a bit longer than indicated in the recipe, to make sure they’re done.

February 22, 2015
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