Oriental vegetable shiitake soup

Ingredients:

I00 g (3 1/2 oz) baby pak choi (Chinese cabbage)
85 g (3 oz) carrots
4 spring onions
50 g (1 3/4 oz) shiitake mushrooms
60 g (2 1/4 oz) tofu
4 thin slices ginger
I clove garlic
600 ml (1 pint) chicken stock
I tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste
Black pepper 

Directions:

Finely shred the pak choi and set it aside in a bowl. Cut the carrots in half lengthways, slice them at an angle into thin half moons and add them to the pak choi. Cut the spring onions into thin, angled slices; finely slice the mushrooms; chop the tofu. Add them all to the bowl.

Cut the ginger slices and garlic into thin matchsticks and place them in a saucepan with the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

When you are almost ready to serve, bring the stock back to the boil, add the vegetables and tofu and season to taste with soy sauce and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then serve.

Variations: for a vegetarian dish, use vegetable stock instead of chicken. Enoki mushrooms can be used instead of shiitake, and peeled, deseeded cucumber can replace the carrots.