Instructions: To serve:
1 bunch or head of oriental greens separated washed and trimmed; thick stems should be sliced and blanched in boiling water for about 1 minute

Put the broth ingredients in a saucepan with 1 1/2 litres of water and bring to the boil. Simmer covered for about 20 minutes.

Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Strain into a clean pan and discard everything left in the sieve.

Prepare the dumplings; the ingredients have to be finely chopped.

Blast the prawns in a processor for a second or two.

Remove then add any other ingredients that require fine chopping and blast to a coarsecrumb consistency.

Mix everything with the beaten egg and refrigerate for half an hour.

Roll into walnutsized balls gently squeezing off any excess liquid and chill until ready to fry.

Heat the vegetable oil and deep or shallowfry the dumplings until golden brown all over.

Remove and leave to one side.

Meanwhile reheat the broth and add the oriental leaves saving a few soft young ones for serving.

Divide the dumplings and leaves between the bowls and pour over the hot broth.

Make this out of any Asian greens you come by: mustard cabbage (daai gai choi not to be mistaken with British mustard greens) which looks a bit like an elongated iceberg lettuce and tastes mildly mustardy. Water spinach (ong choi) choi sum Napa cabbage (Chinese leaves) and iceberg lettuce could all be used instead. Delicate leaves do not need blanching beforehand as the hot stock poured over when serving does the trick. The dumplings can be fried in advance and repeated in a hot oven. If you dont want to make the dumplings just add chopped greens and whole tiger prawns to the broth with a sprinkling of sesame oil.

Serves 6 for a lunch

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