Chinese Chicken and Napa Cabbage Soup for a Quick Dinner Recipe
A delicate yet filling soup with chicken and Napa cabbage is the Chinese answer to our “quick broth”. In many Chinese homes, simple soups like this are cooked almost every day – they’re light, warming, and go perfectly with a bowl of rice.
Similar quick soups with thinly sliced meat and cabbage are an everyday home staple in many regions of China, especially in winter. They’re often treated as a base to which everyone at the table adds their own rice or noodles.
This soup combines the lightness of a clear broth with the comfort of a one-pot meal. Thanks to quick marinating, the chicken stays tender, and Napa cabbage gives the dish a delicate sweetness and pleasant texture. It’s fast, simple, and feels like homemade comfort food with a subtle Asian twist.
Why this version works
- Thinly sliced, starch-coated chicken cooks quickly and stays exceptionally tender.
- Adding the cabbage in two stages preserves its structure so it doesn’t fall apart in the broth.
- Thickening with starch creates the feel of a rich broth without heavy cream.
Chef's tips
Cut the chicken into really thin strips so it cooks quickly and stays juicy. Don’t brown the ginger, garlic and spring onion – they should only soften and release their aroma, otherwise the soup can become bitter. If you like a clearer broth, add the starch gradually and stop when the soup reaches the thickness you prefer.
How to serve
Serve the soup in deep bowls, with extra soy sauce and chili oil on the side so everyone can adjust the flavor to their taste. It pairs well with jasmine rice, rice noodles or even simple steamed vegetables. For a more complete meal, add a side of quick stir-fried vegetables or a light cucumber salad.
Watch out for
- Don’t cook the chicken over high heat – a rolling boil will quickly turn it dry and stringy.
- Add the cabbage near the end; if cooked too long it will disintegrate and the soup will taste flat.
- Always mix starch with cold water first; if you sprinkle it straight into the pot it will form lumps.
Ingredients
- skinless chicken breast you can use boneless thighs, they will be juicier - 350 g
- Napa cabbage about 1/2 medium head - 300 g
- carrot cut into thin half-slices - 1 piece
- chicken or vegetable stock can be made from a cube, but homemade will be tastier - 1.2 l
- soy sauce - 2 tablespoon
- fresh ginger cut into thin slices - 2 cm
- garlic clove lightly crushed with a knife - 1 piece
- oil e.g. rapeseed - 1 tablespoon
- white part of spring onion or leek cut into thin slices - 30 g
- potato or corn starch optional, for light thickening - 1 tablespoon
- water for mixing the starch - 3 tablespoon
- salt to taste, carefully, because soy sauce is salty
- pepper to taste
- green part of spring onion for sprinkling before serving - 2 tablespoon
Preparation
- Cut the chicken breast into very thin strips across the grain. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon starch and 1 tablespoon water, add the meat, coat each strip thoroughly and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Cut the Napa cabbage lengthwise and remove the hard core. Slice the white parts into thin strips, the green leaves into larger pieces; peel the carrot and cut into thin half-moons or matchsticks so it softens quickly and evenly.
- Slice the ginger into thin slices or matchsticks, lightly crush the garlic with a knife. Slice the white part of the spring onion or leek into thin rings, chop the green part separately – it will be used to sprinkle over the finished soup.
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the white part of the spring onion, the ginger and garlic, and fry for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until they soften and smell intense but stay pale; if they start to brown, lower the heat.
- Pour in the stock and add the carrot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook for about 5 minutes, until the carrot is tender at the edges but still slightly springy in the centre when pierced with a fork.
- Add the marinated chicken, gently separating the strips with a fork or chopsticks so they don’t stick together. Simmer over low heat for 5–7 minutes, without a rolling boil, until the meat turns completely white and is no longer pink inside.
- Add the white parts of the Napa cabbage to the soup and cook for 2 minutes, until they soften slightly but are still springy. Then add the green leaves and cook for another 2 minutes, until they turn glossy and slightly floppy yet remain delicately crunchy.
- In a small bowl, mix the remaining starch with 2 tablespoons of water to a smooth, lump-free slurry. Pour it in a thin stream into the gently simmering soup, stirring constantly, and cook for 1–2 minutes, until the broth thickens slightly and becomes silky.
- Season the soup with the remaining soy sauce, taste, and if needed add a pinch of salt and some white or black pepper. If you don’t like biting into ginger and garlic, fish out the larger pieces with a spoon once the soup is seasoned.
- Serve the soup very hot, sprinkled with the green part of the spring onion. You can add a few spoonfuls of cooked rice to each bowl, but add it directly to the portions so it doesn’t fall apart in the pot and cloud the broth.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
This is one of those soups that feels like a warm hug on a busy day. It’s simple enough for a weekday dinner, but still fragrant and interesting thanks to ginger, garlic and soy sauce. I like to treat it as a base and add whatever vegetables I have in the fridge – it almost always turns out great.
