Cantonese Borscht Soup (羅宋湯)

Because all these vegetables will be boiling in soup for two hours, it's not necessary to obsess over the exact size and shape of each vegetable. However, it's ideal to cut everything to approximately the same size. Your soup will look amazing and the ingredients will have the perfect textures.

Cut the green cabbage (1 lb) open. Cut the hard core away and discard it. Cut the cabbage into thick strips, then into bite-sized pieces.

Trim and discard the dirty ends of the celery (3 stalk). Break the stalks by hand to see the tough, stringy fibers along the outer, greener surface of celery stalks. They can be difficult to eat and digest, so pull off any stringy fibers that stick out. Then, dice the celery into small, bite-sized chunks.

Peel the potatoes (2 ) and carrots (2 ) if you like. You'll also be dicing these. For the potato, wet your knife to prevent sticking, then cut the potatoes in halves, then quarters, then into large cubes. Cut the thickest ends of carrots in half lengthwise, then into bite-sized chunks. (If you have skinny carrots, you might not need to halve them.)

Cut the red onion (1 ) open so you can stabilize it on its cut, flat base. Then cut across once to halve again, and dice into chunks.

Cut the chili pepper (0.50 ) open. Discard the seeds and core to reduce the spice level, or include them (or add more chili pepper!) for more of a kick. Chop the pepper into small pieces.

Cut the tomatoes (3 ) in half, then into quarters, then into large bite-sized pieces. Dice the last tomato (1 ) into smaller pieces. The large chunks provide texture, and the smaller pieces will melt into the broth for more flavor.

Smash the ginger (2 oz) and roughly cut it into small pieces. Smash the garlic (3 clove). To make it easier to fish out when eating, leave these aromatics in smashed chunks.

Cut the lemon (0.50 ) in half.

Add the spare ribs (1 lb) to a wok or pot full of clean, cold water. For 1 lb of spare ribs, we needed 4-5 cups of water to submerge them. Turn the heat to high and bring it to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat. You'll see foamy scum and debris rise to the surface. Let it simmer for 30 seconds. While the spare ribs parboil, prepare a bowl of cold water.

Scoop the parboiled spare ribs out and put them in the cold water. Use your hands to scrub and rinse off any debris from the spare ribs.

Pour out the scummy water and quickly clean the wok or pot.

(Time-management tip: on the side, you may want to start boiling water (9 cup) for the next step.)

Dry your wok if needed, then set the heat to low. Add corn oil (2 tbsp) to the wok. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry these aromatics on low heat until they're fragrant, which should take 15-20 seconds.

Add the onions and stir-fry for 20 seconds.

Add the smaller, diced tomatoes and cook for about 30 seconds.

Add the potatoes and carrots. The moisture of the tomatoes will help keep the other ingredients from burning now, so turn the heat up to medium or high. The high heat will help cook off the liquid so the ingredients can stir-fry rather than steam in their own moisture. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the rest of the tomatoes and the chopped chili peppers. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, then add the celery.

Add ketchup (5 tbsp) and mix it in.

Add the parboiled spare ribs. Season with black pepper (0.25 tsp) and stir it in.

Turn the heat off to safely transfer all the ingredients into a large soup pot.

To the soup pot full of stir-fried ingredients, add chicken broth (14 fl oz). Then turn the heat on to high. Add water (9 cup) (use boiling water to save time), then give everything a good stir to ensure that everything is well-mixed.

Add the cabbage, bay leaves (2 ), and lemon.

Bring everything to a boil. Put the lid on the pot to speed up the process. Once it's boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and uncover the pot to give it a mix. Then, put the lid back on and let it simmer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, the soup is cooked through and all the vegetables should be soft. Season with salt (1 tsp) and sugar (2 tbsp). Have a quick taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Enjoy! This soup tastes great fresh, but its flavor will deepen and get even richer after a day or two in the fridge.