Let’s learn how to make this classic chinese stew, Imitation Shark Fin Soup (also known as 碗仔翅 Woon Zai Chi). This flavourful stew is a crowd favourite and must have in banquet dinners. The best part is it’s surprisingly easy to make this at home and this homemade version is so much more delicious too!
Watch How To Make Imitation Shark Fin Soup – Recipe Video
A Popular Festive Soup: Imitation Shark Fin Soup 鱼翅汤 / 碗仔翅
Imitation Shark Fin Soup or 碗仔翅 (Cantonese Pronunciation: Woon Zai Chee) is a famous soup or stewed dish, served in certain parts of China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It is also believed to be a popular Hong Kong street food. This dish started out using real authentic shark fin in the early days. However, due to humanitarian factor and environmental protection, the Shark Fin in the soup was slowly been replaced with mung bean vermicelli or mock Shark Fin.
The real Shark Fin actually has no taste and does not absorb flavour well. It only provides texture, while the taste and flavour comes from the other soup ingredients. Consequently, Imitation Shark Fin has become even more popular, being used in Shark Fin Soup. This dish is popularly served during festive seasons and in banquet dinners.
This recipe is a simplified version of banquet favourite Mock Shark Fin Soup, using the bare minimum ingredients. It’s an easy and fast soup recipe with the authentic taste, just like the original Shark Fin Soup (if not better). While it may not be a shark fin soup made with authentic shark fins, it’s definitely true that all who taste this soup would love it! It is delicious, not expensive and so easy to prepare. And now, we can even start making this delicious soup at home. So let’s start cooking.
History Of Shark Fin Soup
Shark fin soup has long been considered a delicacy in China. Its origin is believed to date back to the Song Dynasty, a time in Chinese history when many in the country prospered and rare dishes were a way to show off one’s wealth. Shark Fin Soup was and is still a very special dish. It was widely considered as a status symbol and a big part of any celebratory meal.
Historically, this Shark Fin Soup was enjoyed at only the most festive occasions, such as weddings and banquets and only by the wealthy. Thus, this soup is considered a luxury item. Today, this is still commonly served and enjoyed at special occasions such as weddings and banquet dinners, birthday of elders and during Chinese New Year dinners – though mostly replaced with mock shark fin.
What is Mock Shark Fin Made Of?
Imitation Shark Fin are made to look like the real Shark Fin. It is actually made of water, gelatine and food colouring. A common ingredient used for imitating the flavorless and crunchy jelly like texture of shark fins is konnyaku, which is a Japanese yam flour cake. It consists of translucent long and thin strips that look like real Shark Fin.
Mock shark fin are usually sold frozen or dried in Asian groceries stores. The best substitute if imitation shark fins is not available are Korean glass noodles or mung bean vermicelli cut short to length of about 5cm.
What is Imitation Shark Fin Soup
Imitation Shark Fin Soup is the re-creation of the famous authentic shark fin soup, but instead of adding real shark fin, mock shark fin made from gelatine to look like the real shark fin is used. The taste and the rich umami flavour of the shark fin soup are amazingly still intact. This is because real shark fin has no taste, they only provide the texture while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients.
The trick lies in making the broth made by simmering chicken meat and scallop for long hours to bring out the best flavour. This really makes the flavour of the Imitation Shark Fin Soup super authentic and amazingly flavourful.
Ingredients You Need To Make Imitation Shark Fin Soup
- Chicken Breast Meat
- Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
- Dried Scallop
- Dried Black Fungus
- Mock Shark FIn
- Water
- Egg
- Cornstarch Solution
- Concentrated Chicken Stock
- Light Soy Sauce
- Shao Xing Wine (Chinese cooking wine)
- Salt
- Ground White Pepper
- Dark Soy Sauce
Overview On How to Make Imitation Shark Fin Soup
Prepare Shark Fin Broth:
- Boil water in a pot.
- Add chicken breast meat and dried scallop to simmer for one hour.
- Remove cooked breast meat and dried scallop from the broth.
Prepare Ingredients:
- Shred cooked breast meat and dried scallop into thin strips.
- Hydrate dried shiitake mushrooms and dried scallop and slice into thin strips.
- Defrost imitation shark fin, blanch in hot water and drain well.
Cooking Imitation Shark Fin Soup:
- Bring chicken broth to a boil.
- On low heat, stir in the thin strips of dried shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, dried scallop and chicken breast meat. Stir occasionally to avoid sticking together. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the imitation shark fin and simmer for another 3 minutes.
- Add seasonings
- On low heat, add cornstarch solution to thicken the soup.
- Off heat, slowly add in beaten egg, stirring in circular motion at the same time to form egg ribbons.
How to Serve Imitation Shark Fin Soup
This Shark Fin Soup is usually served hot as a starter or an appetizer in a bowl top with a few drops of sesame oil, some Chinese black vinegar and a dash of ground white pepper. Ground white pepper gives a little heat to the soup, Chinese black vinegar boost our appetite and a little sesame oil adds fragrance and elevate the taste. Be sure to stir well to mix everything together before consuming.
How to Prepare Imitation Shark Fin Soup in Advance
Here’s a trick on how to prepare Mock Shark Fin Stew ahead of time for easier preparation. First, prepare the broth in advance. Also shred the hydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, scallop and black fungus into thin strips. When preparing the soup, just heat up the broth and add in all prepared ingredients together with seasonings. Lastly thicken the soup to your preferred consistency and we are done.
Important Tips When Cooking Imitation Shark Fin Soup
- Use chicken breast, chicken drumstick or pork meat to boil the soup. Simmer together with dried scallop till turns soft and the meat is cooked through.
- Use chicken stock to reduce cooking time.
- Make sure ingredients are thinly sliced to ensure a smoother soup texture. Do not put too much chicken strips which gives the soup a rough texture.
- Remove the hard stems of rehydrated black fungus and dried shiitake mushrooms and slice into very thin strips so there will be no chunky bites when eating the sharp fin soup.
- You can also use soaked glass noodles for the shark fin.
- To thicken the soup, you can use cornstarch or water chestnut flour with water. Prepare the starch slurry using the flour 7-8 tsp + little bit of water.
- Add the starch solution little by little on low heat, stirring at the same time till the preferred consistency is achieved.
- Add the dark soy sauce little by little into the soup till the preferred coloring is obtained.
- If you are adding egg, you need to reduce the starch slurry accordingly as egg is a thickening agent.
Mock Shark Fin Soup 防鱼翅汤
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Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 30 grams dried shiitake mushroom
- 20 grams black fungus
- 25 grams dried scallop
- 250 grams mock shark fin
- 2 litre water
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
- 4 tbsp water
Seasonings:
- 1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp shao xing wine
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
Seasonings for Serving:
- 1 tsp black vinegar
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
Have ready all ingredients needed to prepare the soup.
Have ready all seasonings for the soup.
In a pot, add water and bring to a boil. Then add chicken breast and dried scallop and bring to a boil again. When boiling, place the lid on the pot, reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer for an hour.
Then remove the cooked chicken breast and scallop from the pot. And the broth is ready to be used for the soup.
Leave the cooked breast meat and dried scallop to cool. Then shred into thin strips and set aside.
Hydrate dried shiitake mushrooms and black fungus in room temperature water until soft and drain well. Then slice the soaked shiitake mushrooms and black fungus into thin slices. Set aside for later use.
Defrost the mock sharkfin. Then briefly blanch in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain well for use later. And we are ready to cook the soup.
Boil broth at medium high heat and bring to a boil. Add shredded meat, dried scallops, sliced black fungus mushrooms, sliced shiitake mushrooms and crab meat. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then add mock shark fin into the soup. Simmer for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Next add in all seasonings, stir to mix well. Then reduce to low heat, slowly add in cornstarch solution to thicken the soup to the right consistency, stirring all the time.
Beat an egg. Off heat and slowly pour the egg into the soup in a continuous stream in a circular motion stirring at the same time. This will form egg ribbons.
Serve in a bowl on its own or top with a dash of white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil and black vinegar. So Enjoy!
Instructions
Ingredients:
Preparing Shark Fin Broth:
Preparing Ingredients:
Cook Imitation Shark Fin Soup:
Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
- Use chicken breast, chicken drumstick or pork meat to boil the soup. Simmer together with dried scallop turns soft and till the meat is cooked through.
- You can also use chicken stock to reduce cooking time.
- Make sure ingredients are thinly sliced to ensure a smoother soup texture. Do not put too much chicken strips which gives the soup a rough texture.
- Remove the hard stems of rehydrated black fungus and dried shiitake mushrooms and slice into very thin strips so there will be no chunky bites when eating the sharp fin soup.
- You can also use soaked glass noodles for the shark fin.
- To thicken the soup, you can use cornstarch or water chestnut flour with water. Prepare the starch slurry using the flour' 7-8 tsp + little bit of water.
- Add the starch solution little by little on low heat stirring at the same time till the preferred consistency is achieved.
- Add the dark soy sauce little by little into the soup till the right coloring is obtained.
- If you are adding egg, you need to reduce the starch slurry accordingly as egg is a thickening agent.
NUTRITION
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