All soups › Family classics
Lettuce and dace fish-ball soup (sang choi yu yuk)
“Just off the stove. Drink it while it is hot.”
Ingredientsone pot, serves 4
Method
Once the stock boils, turn it down to a bare simmer. Scoop the dace paste into the soup one ball at a time with a spoon, and they are done as soon as they float. Put the shredded lettuce in the bottom of the bowl, or add it to the pot in the last 30 seconds.
- Season the dace paste, mix in the chopped spring onion, then stir in one direction for 10 minutes until it turns springy (起膠, the point where the paste goes bouncy).
- Bring the stock or water to the boil, then turn it down and keep it at a bare simmer.
- Scoop the dace into balls with a spoon, drop them into the soup one at a time and poach them until they float.
- Put the shredded lettuce in the bottom of the bowl, or add it to the pot for the last 30 seconds.
- Finish with white pepper and sesame oil.
Who it suits
- the whole family
- a light high-protein dinner, with the lettuce barely blanched so it stays crisp (the source makes no strong Chinese medicine claims)
Who should take care
- If you scrape the dace flesh yourself, watch for bones
Soup stories
A street food classic. 生菜魚肉 was ladled out bowl by bowl, steaming hot in winter, at 大牌檔 open-air food stalls and snack shops, and it moved across into the home repertoire of quick-boiled soups. Buy ready-made dace paste from a market fish stall and dinner is on the table in fifteen minutes.
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.