Kenchinjiru (Iwate Style)
Iwate kenchinjiru skips meat and instead thoroughly fries the tofu in oil until crumbly—that is its defining trait. Firmer cotton tofu holds its shape better and is easier to fry.
Shanghai-Style Borscht
A Shanghai-style homestyle soup adapted in Shanghai from Russian beet borscht. Tomato and beef lead the flavor, which is sweet-sour, rich and savory. It's packed with quality protein, lycopene and a range of vitamins for balanced nutrition. It's simple to make and beginner-friendly, taking about 2–3 hours in total.
Miso Soup (Tofu and Wakame)
Boiling miso drives off its aroma. After dissolving the miso, do not let the soup boil—turn off the heat at the first simmer.
Tonjiru Pork Miso Soup with Barley Miso
Barley miso, popular in southern Kyushu such as Kagoshima, is mildly sweet and gentle. If you cannot find it, blended or rice miso works—adjust the amount to taste.
Oden (Tokyo-Style Japanese Hot Pot)
The biggest secret is never letting it boil. A rolling boil makes the fish cakes swell and lose their flavour, and clouds the broth.
Imoni (Yamagata Taro and Beef Stew)
Adding a little soy sauce at the start firms up the surface of the taro so it is less likely to fall apart.
Pork Rib Soup with Dried Tangerine Peel
A light, nourishing Cantonese double-boiled soup: the broth is clear, sweet and mellow, with the distinctive fragrance of tangerine peel. Ribs provide quality protein, and with American ginseng, dendrobium and other ingredients it moistens the lungs, strengthens the spleen and relieves thirst, suitable for people who often stay up late. Difficulty is moderate; you just prepare the ingredients, put them in the pot and slow-cook for about two hours.
Cucumber and Century Egg Soup
Cucumber and century egg soup is a quick and easy home-style dish. The flavor is light, accompanied by a roasted aroma from stir-frying the century egg and garlic. It is comforting, warming, and not greasy. Cucumber clears heat and hydrates, while century eggs provide some protein. It is low-fat and easy on the body. The preparation requires almost no technical skill; even beginners can complete it easily. From prep work to serving, it only takes about ten minutes.
Snow Fungus and Lotus Seed Porridge
Snow fungus and lotus seed porridge tastes clear and sweet with a smooth texture. The fungus is soft and glutinous, while the lotus seeds are dense, making it a common nourishing porridge. Rich in natural gelatin, dietary fiber, and various trace elements, it helps in nourishing the heart and calming the mind. The preparation requires soaking and slow cooking, which tests the patience of beginners; the entire process takes approximately 3.5 hours.
Tomato Egg Soup
Tomato egg soup is a sweet-and-sour, appetizing home-style soup with a smooth, tender texture. It is extremely simple and loved by young and old alike. It is rich in lycopene, vitamin C and quality protein, balanced and easy to digest. Very beginner-friendly and quick, it takes about 15 minutes.
Enoki Mushroom Soup
This is a light, refreshing home-style soup with a savory flavor, and a quick, easy dish. Enoki mushrooms are rich in amino acids and dietary fiber, and adding egg provides quality protein. It is very easy to make, even for beginners, and takes only about 10 minutes from prep to table.
Pork Rib Soup with Dried Tangerine Peel
This soup is a Cantonese slow-cooked "lao huo" soup: the broth is clear and bright, sweet and mellow with a lingering aroma and the distinctive aged note of tangerine peel. Ribs provide quality protein and calcium, and combined with tangerine peel, American ginseng, dendrobium and other ingredients, it helps regulate qi, strengthen the spleen, nourish yin and moisten the lungs, ideal for people who often stay up late or have throat discomfort. It isn't difficult: just prepare the ingredients and get the simmering time right, and beginners can manage easily. It takes about two hours from prep to serving.
Laba Porridge
Laba porridge is a traditional sweet porridge for the Laba festival: thick and soft, blending the aromas of many grains, beans and dried fruits. It's rich in carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, and lotus seeds are said to calm the mind — good for people under work stress. Although there are many ingredients, it's simple to make; just simmer patiently, so it's beginner-friendly. Excluding soaking, the cooking takes about 3 hours.
Stewed Baby Pigeon with Mushrooms
The soup is clear and bright, the meat is tender and fine, blending the fragrance of mushrooms with the freshness of pigeon. This is a classic home-style Cantonese stew. Baby pigeons are rich in high-quality protein and various amino acids, while mushrooms provide polysaccharides and dietary fiber, offering a gentle nourishment effect. To make this dish, the pigeon must first be blanched to remove the fishy smell, then stewed with corn and mushrooms. It requires a slight attention to heat control and timing, but beginners can still manage it with a little care. Using a pressure cooker takes about 45 minutes from preparation to completion, while slow-cooking in a casspot takes a little over an hour.
Lamb Soup
Lamb soup is a home-style warming soup. The broth is milky white, the meat is tender, and it carries a fresh and slightly spicy fragrance of green onions and white pepper. It is rich in nutrients like protein, calcium, and iron, and has the effect of warming the stomach/spleen and resisting the cold. The instructions are simple, and even beginners can easily master them. The entire cooking process takes about 30 minutes.
Tomato Beef Egg Drop Soup
Tomato beef egg drop soup is a sweet-and-sour, appetizing home-style soup with a tender, silky texture. Beef is rich in high-quality protein and iron, tomatoes provide lycopene and vitamin C, and eggs add lecithin. It is simple to make, even beginners can master it easily, and it is usually on the table in about half an hour.
Seaweed Egg Drop Soup (Zicai Dahuatang)
Seaweed Egg Drop Soup is a light, fresh, home-style soup and belongs to a category of simple Chinese soups. Seaweed is rich in iodine, calcium, and dietary fiber, while eggs provide high-quality protein; the combination is nutritionally balanced. The recipe is extremely simple and beginner-friendly, taking only about 20 minutes from preparation to serving.
Century Egg and Pork Congee
Century Egg and Pork Congee is a classic Cantonese home-style porridge. The creamy texture of the congee base, combined with the rich aroma of the century eggs and the tenderness of the lean meat, creates a warm, savory, and smooth mouthfeel. It is rich in carbohydrates and high-quality protein, balancing nutrition with vegetables, making it easy to digest. Although there are many steps, the operation is intuitive; beginners can easily complete the process following the steps, with an estimated time of about 1.5 hours.Using the rice cooker's scheduling or warming function makes it particularly convenient for breakfast.
Rice Porridge (Congee)
White porridge is refreshing, soft, and a staple home-cooked meal that warms the stomach. It has a pure rice fragrance and is suitable for the young and the old. It is rich in carbohydrates and a small amount of protein, easy to digest, and has the benefits of tonifying the spleen, harmonizing the stomach, and clearing the lungs. The operation is simple; just master the control of the heat and the amount of water. Beginners can easily complete it, and the whole process takes about 25 minutes.
Phoenix Soup
Phoenix Soup is a home-style quick dish from the eastern part of Henan Province. It has a smooth, sweet texture with the rich aroma of sesame oil. The eggs provide high-quality protein, and the preparation is incredibly simple—just boiling water and scrambling the eggs takes less than 10 minutes, making it easy to serve. It also helps cool down the body and reduce heat.
Corn and Pork Rib Soup
Corn and Pork Rib Soup is a delicious, naturally sweet home-style dish. The ribs are tender, and the corn and carrots provide a natural sweetness. Rich in protein, vitamins, and dietary fiber, it is a well-balanced meal. The method is simple and beginner-friendly; it only requires slow-cooking the blanched ribs for about one hour after stir-frying. The process from prep to serving takes approximately one and a half hours.
Fresh Scalded Meatball Soup
Fresh Scalded Meatball Soup has a tender, smooth, and bouncy texture. It is a home-style dish that retains the original flavor. Pork provides high-quality protein, and the combination with black fungus and daylilies creates a balanced nutrition. Making this requires hand-mincing the meat and mastering the heat for scalding, which has a slight skill threshold and is better suited for home cooks with some basic culinary skills. The process takes about 1 hour from preparation to serving.
Thornback Catfish and Tofu Soup
The Thornback Catfish and Tofu Soup is a home-style dish with a fresh, tender texture and a thick, white soup. The fish has few bones and tender meat, while the tofu is silky smooth. Served with a touch of spicy warmth from the pepper, it is suitable for all age groups. The fish is rich in high-quality protein, and paired with tofu, it helps supplement calcium for a nutrient-balanced and easily digestible meal. The cooking process isn't complex; as long as you focus on removing the fishy smell and preventing sticking while frying, beginners can generally handle it. Estimated cooking time is about 40 minutes.
Pork Rib and Bitter Melon Soup
Pork rib and bitter melon soup is a clear, savory Cantonese home-style soup with a sweet aftertaste: tender ribs, and bitter melon that cools and cuts through richness. It's rich in protein and vitamins, and the dried shrimp adds calcium. Blanching to remove odors and carefully removing the bitter melon pith is a bit challenging for beginners, but an electric pressure cooker simplifies it greatly. Traditional slow simmering takes 2 to 4 hours, so start 4 hours ahead; a pressure cooker needs only about 1 hour.
Pork Rib, Chinese Yam and Corn Soup
Pork rib, yam and corn soup is clear, sweet and rich: soft, smooth yam and sweet corn blend with the savory flavor of the ribs, a home-style soup loved by young and old. It's rich in protein, dietary fiber and vitamins, and is believed to strengthen the spleen and stomach and boost immunity. It's easy, with clear prep and simmering steps that beginners can manage, and takes about 1 hour in total.
Starch-shadowed Mushroom Soup
This thickened mushroom soup features a rich flavor and smooth, appetizing texture; it is a quick and easy home-style dish. Mushrooms are rich in amino acids and polysaccharides, which help boost the immune system. The process requires some basic knowledge of controlling heat and thickening, but it remains friendly for beginners. From preparation to serving, it takes about 25 minutes.
Millet Congee
Millet congee is a common home-style porridge in northern China: smooth and silky, with a rich grain aroma, and the "millet oil" layer that forms on top is especially soothing for the stomach. It contains protein, fat, carbohydrates and carotene, and its vitamin B1 content is among the highest of all grains; it's easy to digest. It's very simple, even for beginners, and takes about 30-35 minutes from boiling the water to serving.
Chicken Soup with Chinese Yam and Pumpkin
Chicken soup with Chinese yam and pumpkin is a warming autumn and winter soup: the yam is good for digestion, the pumpkin is sweet and the chestnuts are soft and starchy, making a fresh, sweet pot. It is rich in protein, dietary fiber and vitamins, and well balanced. It is simple to make, takes about 50 minutes from prep to table, and beginners can do it easily.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
This is a classic French-style thick soup known for its silky, creamy texture where the aroma of mushrooms blends harmoniously with milk. Mushrooms are rich in dietary fiber and trace elements, while milk provides high-quality protein and calcium. The method is very simple and beginner-friendly, taking about 30 minutes from prep to finish.