A friend in Hong Kong once invited us to what he called a one-pot supper, which he put together after work. In the middle of the table was a bubbling pot of light stock, and on platters around it were the ingredients – thinly sliced raw scallops, prawns and pieces of squid.

Arranged around the seafood was a pile of washed, trimmed and prepared raw vegetables – bok choy, torn-up Chinese cabbage leaves, spring onions, bean sprouts, mangetouts, sliced mushrooms, water chestnuts, miniature corn and sliced courgettes.

In addition, there was a neat pile of thinly sliced fillet steak and some sliced chicken breast. The idea and the method were very simple, so simple that I will describe it rather than write a recipe formula.

We would each cook what we fancied, picking it up from the platters with our chopsticks, dropping it into the bubbling pot and fishing it out with small mesh scoops, like fishing nets.

There was, of course, also a bowl of rice, with which to accompany each mouthful, after dipping into soy sauce, or a chilli vinegar and sesame oil dressing, or ginger salt, a mixture of grated ginger and coarse sea salt.

By the end of cooking, the stock in the pot was extremely savoury, and at this point, our friend dropped in a tangle of cooked, drained noodles, brought the stock back to the boil and served the soup noodles for the last course.

Versions of this dish exist throughout the Far East, from the Malaysian dip-dip and Mongolian hot-pot to the Japanese sukiyaki. In France it is described as a fondue Chinoise.

I highly recommend it as the perfect dish for casual entertaining. It does require, of course, time to buy good ingredients and time to prepare them, even though the host needs to do no advance cooking. In fact, I do not even make a stock.

This is a remarkably versatile meal and you can happily drink beer or your favourite wine

I put about three litres of water in a saucepan, add a couple of slices of ginger, a splash or two of soy sauce, a larger splash of rice wine, fino, or dry amontillado sherry, and a little freshly ground black pepper or Szechuan peppercorns and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Then I strain this flavoursome broth into the pot for cooking the ingredients.

These will depend on availability, but an abundance of local prawns will be ideal, as well as thinly sliced tenderloin of local pork, plenty of mushrooms, courgettes and heaps of greens, including lettuce and rocket.

What to drink? This is a remarkably versatile meal, and you can happily drink beer or your favourite wine. A crisp fino sherry accompanies it as well as a bottle of bubbly. Our friend, a noted wine connoisseur, would bring out his finest bottles of white burgundy.

This really is a one-pot meal, but if you wanted to top and tail it, I think it works best to keep the flavours oriental, with a simple cold dish to start and finish. While melons are still sweet, combine them with some slices of smoked fish. For dessert I like to serve a fruit soup and sorbet.

This can be any combination you like, according to the fruit you have available. A rose water sorbet with fresh fig soup, strawberries prepared in the same way, a peach soup with camomile sorbet, or, to stay oriental, I have used litchis.

It is, I find, one of the fruits which is almost as good canned as fresh.

One of the advantages of eating smoked fish is that there is a relatively high amount of protein in the fish, which also are low in saturated fat.

Smoked fish and melon salad with mint and five-spice dressing

(Serves 6 to 8)

300g to 400g sliced smoked swordfish or lampuka (dolphin fish)
1 honeydew melon, skin removed and sliced
2 tbsps sesame seeds
3 tbsps sunflower or groundnut oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsps fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp five-spice powder
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1-2 tbsps fresh mint, chopped

Arrange the smoked fish slices on plates, alternating with slices of melon, or put a fan of fish slices to one side of the plate and a fan of melon slices on the other.

In a small heavy frying pan, toast the sesame seeds until golden brown. Scatter them over the fish and melon. In the same pan, mix all the ingredients except the mint, bring to the boil, remove from the heat, stir in the coriander leaves and spoon over the salad.

Serve immediately. Fresh basil or coriander can replace the mint or you can use a little of all three.

Lychees contain many nutrients and vitamins that help fight against various diseases as well as being a treatment for skin care, child growth and strengthening the body.

Lime, ginger and lychee sorbet with lychee soup

(Serves 6 to 8)

Sorbet
Thinly pared zest of 1 lime and its juice
2 thin slices fresh ginger
300ml water
Drained juice of two 400g cans litchis
200-300g granulated sugar

Thinly peel off the lime zest and put it with the ginger in a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Scoop out and discard the ginger and lime.

Stir in the sugar and lychee juice and enough lime juice to flavour to taste. Using the lesser amount of sugar will give you a grainier sorbet, and more sugar makes it smoother.

Soup
The drained lychees
Lime juice – see above
2 tbsps sugar
600ml chilled water

Put the fruit, lime juice, sugar and water in the food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into chilled soup plates, and add a scoop or quenelle of sorbet. A quartered lychee can be added for garnish, as can mint leaves.