20 Minute One-Pot Chinese Noodle Soup

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This 20 MINUTE ONE-POT CHINESE NOODLE SOUP is the answer when you need a quick, nourishing and soul-soothing meal that requires hardly any cooking and is done in 20 minutes. Literally, the only skill needed is the ability to throw everything into a pot and boil them!

My recipe shows you how to stagger the (three) additions of ingredients so everything is cooked perfectly all in a single pot. I know! You’re welcome!

I crave and cook this 20 MINUTE ONE-POT CHINESE NOODLE SOUP once every 2-3 weeks all year-round. I’m not kidding. People who follow my IG stories probably have seen this numerous time. And it always hits. No wonder it’s a mainstay recipe in my weeknight repertoire for many years. You need to add this immediately to your weeknight rotation too!

This is one of those no-fail, no-thinking recipes. It can be fully plant-based too, if you omit scallops and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

This recipe is the third recipe in season 2 of my 30 MINUTE RECIPES series I’m sharing on Instagram. Check out the other recipes in the series if you’re into quick and healthy, family meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less.

Eat well + be well,

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20 Minute One-Pot Chinese Noodle Soup - recipe head notes:

1.best types of noodles to use

Generally, any noodle of your choice is great for this recipe. The only caveat is, for a one-pot situation like this, you’d want to choose a noodle that is fast cooking i.e. cooked in 3 minutes or less. For example, good candidates are: any fresh asian noodles, Japanese somen, and thin-width / medium-width asian dry “stick” wheat noodles. For noodles requiring longer cooking time, I suggest cooking them separately in another pot of boiling water and draining before adding to the soup, otherwise they will make the soup overly starchy by the time they’re done cooking.

2.can I cook the noodles separately?

Definitely! Cooking the noodles in the soup imparts a little bit of their starch which makes the soup slightly thickened and silky (see note 1 above regarding using quick cooking noodles for this). If you want a clearer broth or maybe don't have a large enough pot to fit it all in, cook the noodles separately, divide into serving bowls and ladle the soup and toppings over them to serve.

3.watercress for soup versus watercress for salad

This recipe calls for one “bunch” of watercress (西洋菜 pronounced “sai yeung choy” in Cantonese). At Chinese supermarkets, watercress is sold in bunches tied up with a rubber band. At conventional (Western) supermarkets, I have only ever seen it sold in sealed salad bags intended to be eaten raw in salads. The watercress at Chinese supermarkets are larger and coarser, meant to be stir-fried or cooked in soup. I thought to point this out in case it is confusing to some people! It is super healthy which is why I love throwing a bunch into this soup. However, if you are unable to get the larger bunches at a Chinese supermarket, I don’t see why you can’t use the salad watercress but making sure to add them at the very end, letting the hot soup wilt them because the leaves on those are so tender (similar to baby spinach). You can also omit the watercress.

4.what are fried tofu puffs?

Also called deep-fried tofu (豆泡 pronounced “dao pok” in Cantonese), tofu puffs can be found at Chinese supermarkets in the refrigerated section next to other tofu products. They are obviously deep-fried. But above that, they have a wonderfully chewy and airy texture, and like many tofu products, is amazing for soaking up whatever flavours they’re cooked in. If you can’t access tofu puffs, substitute with any other tofu or tofu product, or omit them.

5. more about the scallops in this recipe

The scallops are optional but sooo delicious and makes the meal a touch more substantial. Their addition requires no additional effort whatsoever other than defrosting them! That said, I make this recipe without scallops all the time too. For this, I use 30-count scallops. Just like shrimp, scallop size is identified by how many you get in a pound. In other words, “30-pound scallops” means you get about 30 scallops in a pound worth, or 15 scallops in my 227g or 1/2 pound pack (image below). This size works perfectly in this recipe because they cook in the same amount of time as the tofu puffs and enoki mushrooms added at the end.

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you may also be interested in these other recipes from the 30 minute series:

• easy chinese tomato and egg noodles

• speedy chicken katsu dinner

• mushroom and egg ‘gyudon’ japanese rice bowls

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20 MINUTE One-pot Chinese Noodle Soup

Serves 4. See recipe head notes in blog post for tips and info!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 portions dried wheat noodles (¾ to 1 lb) – see recipe head notes 1 and 2

• 1 small head Napa cabbage (about 1½ lb)

• 1 bunch watercress, ends trimmed – see recipe head note 3

• 1 lb soft tofu, cut into 1½” cubes

• 6 C chicken or vegetable stock

• 1 package fried tofu puffs (“dao pok” or 豆泡) (approx. 130g) – see recipe head note 4

• 1 bunch enoki mushrooms, ends trimmed (approx. 150g)

• ½ lb sea scallops, defrosted from frozen (about 15 x 30-count size scallops) – see recipe head note 5

• 2 slices fresh ginger

• 1½ tbsp soy sauce, or to taste

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, or to taste

• Kosher salt to taste

• Chinese chili oil, to serve

METHOD

Set out a large pot with at least 5.5 Quart or 5.3L capacity (that’s the size of my Le Creuset dutch oven with the number “26” under the lid). If you don’t have a large enough pot, you may want to cook the noodles separately – see recipe head note 2.

Wash and prep ingredients. For Napa, cut white firmer parts crosswise into ½” thick pieces and cut softer leafy parts into 1” thick pieces.

Add to the pot in this order: ginger slices, Napa cabbage, watercress, soft tofu cubes and chicken broth. Season with salt to taste (I start with 1 tsp for low-sodium chicken stock and add more later). Cover, bring to a rolling boil then lower heat to a strong simmer. Cook covered, for about 3 minutes or whenever Napa cabbage white parts have just turned tender – don’t overboil until cabbage and watercress start to disintegrate.

Add the soy sauce. Taste and add more salt and/or soy sauce to your taste while bringing the pot back to a rolling boil. Use tongs to push veggies and tofu to the sides to make a well of soup in the middle. Add uncooked noodles (see recipe head note 2 for cooking noodles separately) in 2 or 3 additions to give each bunch 10-15 seconds to soften and loosen a bit in the broth before continuing with the rest. Use tongs to wiggle and shake noodles continuously so they don’t stick to each other, while being careful not to break up the soft tofu in the pot. Continue cooking noodles according to package directions minus 2 minutes.

Next, arrange tofu puffs, enoki and scallops (if using) on top. Find spots to tuck the scallops in under the soup to help them cook. Lower heat. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the new additions. Cover and simmer just to quickly heat the toppings through, being careful not to overcook the scallops, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Finish with toasted sesame oil. Serve with Chinese chili oil.

Enjoy!

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A post shared by sonia wong (@saltnpepperhere)

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Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment below to let me know or tag me on Instagram @saltnpepperhere so I can see. Or drop a note if you have any questions. I’m happy to help!