Hoo Pioh Th'ng [Fish Maw Soup]

This recipe is from the book 'At Home With Amy Beh 2'.  It is quite a common soup which my MIL used to cook during CNY.    Quite a costly soup because of the fish maw if it is a quality type.  Here I used the ready fried fish bladder.  It just needs to be soaked until soft, then cut into bite size pieces and it' s ready for cooking.

A very clear and light soup which is not oily at all using meat and prawn balls instead of chicken.

According to Amy Beh, this is a hearty and nutritious nyonya home style soup that is popular with the Hokkiens.  This soup is served during wedding lunches on a long table [t'ng tok] together with other favourite nyonya dishes.

Ingredients

[recipe adapted from Amy Beh 2 with some modifications]

40 gm fish maw/dried fish bladder/hoo pioh

500 gm chicken - chopped chunky pieces [I used meat and prawn balls] - Recipe for Meatballs here

100 gm gingko nuts - shelled and skinned [see post on How to prepare gingko nuts] 

100 gm jicama - cut thick slices

5-6 water chestnuts - sliced

1 canned button mushrooms - halved
1 small red carrot - cut thick slices [optional]

2.5 litres water

1 tbsp sesame oil

salt and msg to taste

Tie in a muslin bag the following ingredients

1 bulb garlic - with skin

a few slices of ginger

1 tsp peppercorns - lightly crushed

1. Soak the fish bladder in cold water until soft.  Squeeze dry and cut into bite size pieces.
2. Bring water to boil in a big soup pot with the muslin bag.  Simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
3. Add in the water chestnuts and sengkuang.  The add in the fish maw.
4. Bring soup to boil and add in the meat balls to cook.  Lastly add in the gingko nuts and mushrooms.
5. Add seasoning to taste.  Bring soup to boil again.  Off heat.
6. Serve soup hot immediately.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Note:

If using chicken, add the chicken at Step 2.  If using meat and prawn balls, see recipe below.

Ingredients for Meat and Prawn Balls

100 gm shelled prawns - finely chopped

100 gm meat or chicken fillet - finely chopped

• marinate with some pepper, salt, sugar, sesame oil and cornflour.  Mix well and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients.
• Scoop prawn and meat ball mixture into balls with a wet metal spoon into boiling soup to cook for 1-2 minutes. 

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