All soups › Nourishing tonics
Double-boiled soup of fish maw, dried scallop and shiitake
“The pot she makes when someone needs looking after.”
Ingredientsone pot, serves 4
Method
Double-boiled (隔水燉, the covered jar stands in a pot of water rather than sitting on the heat), in a one-person jar of about 400 ml: put the ingredients in and pour in boiling water to just cover. Seal with cling film (traditionally 紗紙, mulberry paper) and put the lid on. Fill the outer pot a third to halfway up the jar and double-boil for 3 hours. The 杞子 go in for the last 30 minutes. Salt goes in last.
- Soak the 花膠 (fish maw) ahead of time to rehydrate it. Soak the 瑤柱 (dried scallops), 螺片 (sliced dried conch) and 冬菇 (dried shiitake) until soft.
- Blanch the pork ribs and the chicken thigh (汆水, a quick boil to clean off blood and scum).
- Put everything except the 杞子 in the double-boil jar and pour in about 400 ml of boiling water.
- Seal it with cling film, put the lid on and double-boil for 3 hours, adding the 杞子 for the last 30 minutes.
- Season with salt before drinking.
Who it suits
- feeling run down
- not enough qi and blood
- wanting a gentle tonic
Who should take care
- gout sufferers take care, dried seafood is high in purines
- avoid tonic double-boils while a cold has not fully cleared (general warning across this collection)
Soup stories
A whole dried seafood shop in one jar. 花膠, 瑤柱 and 螺片 give a triple layer of dried-goods savour, deeply flavoursome with no MSG. This is the everyday jar at a double-boil shop.
From the same family
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.