Soup

You can swap the chicken stock for water. Soup can be made a day ahead, cover, refrigerate. Reheat in the microwave oven on MEDIUM (50%) in 1 minute bursts until hot or in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through. Note

Be careful when frying mint as it will spit. Note

Roasting makes both the parsnip and garlic wonderfully sweet and mellow. When preparing the parsnips, be sure to peel thickly enough to remove all the bitter outer layer, and also to cut off any woody core. Note

Use crisp, crunchy fresh water chestnuts for this recipe if they are in season; frozen fresh water chestnuts also can be found in many Asian grocers. About 5-medium sized chesnuts are needed for this soup. Note

I sometimes make vegetarian minestrone but it’s never as tasty as this version, which relies on a really rich beef stock. Taking the trouble to make good stock makes all the difference to the end result. Note

This spiced coriander, lentil and barley soup is creamy, delicious and filling.

Ramen is a very popular Japanese noodle soup consisting of Chinese wheat noodles and a broth usually flavoured with meats and soy.