Tomato and potato broth

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A wok or heavy-based pot to fry the tomatoes
• A jug of plain stock or boiling water by the burner for topping up

How the time splits

1. 15 minScore, scald and peel the tomatoes; cut the potato and onionhands on
2. 10 minSoften the onion and garlic, fry the tomatoes until they collapsehands on
3. 30 minStock and potato in, lid on, until the potato is softhands off
4. 5 minTaste, add sugar and salthands on

Method

1. Cut a cross in the top of each tomato, scald them in boiling water for half a minute, peel and cut them up. Peel the potatoes, cut them into large chunks and keep them in water; slice the onion and crush the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a pot or wok over medium heat and soften the onion, add the garlic until it smells, then the tomatoes, pressing them with the spatula as they fry until they give up their juice, collapse and turn the oil red. Do not skip this: tomatoes put into the stock raw make a sour, watery broth.
3. Stir in the ketchup, splash in a little Shaoxing wine, pour in the chicken stock and half a litre of water, and add the potatoes.
4. Bring it to the boil, turn it down to medium-low, cover and cook for thirty minutes, until the potato is soft right through and its edges start to melt into the broth, which thickens it a little.
5. Taste and add the sugar and salt: the sugar is there to round off the tomatoes' sourness, not to make it sweet.
6. Pour it into the pot at the table. With children eating, cook their egg dumplings, cheese sausages and beef first; top it up with stock or boiling water. Finish with udon or rice noodles to soak up the tomato.
7. For a fuller broth, first simmer 600 g of blanched pork bones or beef short rib for an hour to make the stock, then carry on from step two.

The short route

• A tomato hotpot soup-base sachet from the supermarket or Chinese grocer, made up with water; for children, add as much water again and a fresh tomato or two.
• Or carton chicken stock with water, a tin of whole tomatoes, two potatoes in chunks and two tablespoons of ketchup, simmered twenty minutes.

What goes in this pot

• Shaved beef: ten seconds, eat it when it changes colour
• Fish slices: done when white
• Prawns: done when red and curled
• Egg dumplings: when they float, two or three minutes more, so the filling is cooked through
• Cheese sausages: the children's favourite, heated right through
• Tofu, enoki: in early; enoki needs at least two minutes
• Udon, rice noodles: to finish, soaking up the tomato

What to put in, and for how long ›

The sauce plate

Grated daikon with yuzu ponzuGarlic soy

Safe at the table

• Indoors, an induction plate or an electric hotpot is the safe choice. Australia’s gas safety regulators say butane cartridge stoves are for outdoor use only, because of the risk of carbon monoxide. If you do use one indoors, as Hong Kong homes do, keep it well ventilated, and never in a small or closed-up room.
• With a portable gas stove, never use a pot wider than the pot stand, about 20 cm at most unless the maker’s instructions allow more, and never one that reaches over the canister compartment. Never put two stoves side by side, and never leave one burning.
• Fit and remove the canister away from any flame or heat, with its notch facing up. Check for leaks with soapy water first, and do not use a stove that leaks or is damaged. Never put the stove on another cooker (an induction plate especially) or on anything hot, and put nothing between stove and pot that the maker did not supply: no foil, no extra stand.
• Buy a stove certified for Australia, set it on a level surface that will not burn, never on glass, and do not run it longer than the maker’s instructions allow. Keep sprays, lighters and paper well away. When you finish, turn it off, take the canister out and store it somewhere cool, dry and ventilated, never in a car or in the sun.
• Keep raw and cooked apart: use a separate pair of chopsticks or a slotted spoon for raw meat and seafood, and never eat from them.
• After topping the pot up, wait for it to come back to a full boil before anything goes in.
• Chicken, pork, liver and seafood must be cooked through before eating. Sliced pig’s liver needs at least three to five minutes at a full boil; Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety advises at least five minutes for seafood; clams boil until they open and then three to five minutes more, and any that stay shut are thrown away. Enoki boils at least two minutes and is never eaten raw.
• For pregnant women, children under five, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system: beef until no pink remains, and seafood for the full five minutes.
• Raw meat plates stay out no longer than two hours. Leftovers go into the fridge within two hours, keep no more than three days, and are reheated only once, until boiling hot.

Take care

• Tomato, potato and onion carry none of the common allergens, but carton stocks and ketchups vary, so read the pack if anyone is allergic; Shaoxing wine is brewed with wheat (gluten), so leave it out for anyone allergic to wheat. The seafood, balls and egg dumplings that go in later bring fish, crustacean, egg, wheat and soy.
• A boiling pot at a child's height needs an adult watching, and an adult ladling the soup. The meat filling of egg dumplings must be cooked through.

The story

Tomato and potato soup is one of the commonest quick soups in a Hong Kong home, and poured into the hotpot it becomes the base most children ask for. Sweet and a little sour, with no chilli and nothing fishy, it suits the whole family, and the potato, cooked soft, is good to eat once it has soaked up the broth.

Same kind

Clear chicken brothHong Kong satay brothPeppery pork-bone broth

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.