Friday, August 30, 2013

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. 


I'm  linking this post to Cook Your Books #3 Event  
hosted by Kitchen Flavours


  photo 77951578-1914-4b72-8eda-9e40a91183ac_zps331eb4b4.jpg

14 comments:

  1. ivy sew http://simplybeautifulhealthyliving.blogspot.comAugust 30, 2013 at 11:06 AM

    Morning Kimmy, love this fish maw soup. Have a nice day :

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  2. Hi Kimmy,
    I love fish maw soup, and would cook it with pork ribs, white pepper, pork intestine/stomach soup. We love it. This version sounds delicious too, maybe one day I'll try. Have this book, but somehow did not notice this recipe!
    Thanks for sharing with CYB!

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  3. Kimmy, I must try the dried hoo pioh one of these days. Always see in the Chinese medicine shop. My grandma used to get fresh ones from the fish seller long ago. If I am not mistaken, she cooked gulai with it. I love the soft texture.

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  4. Hi Ivy, thanks. It's weekend. Must find some time to relax but there are endless good food to try......

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  5. Hi Joyce, I think this is the simplest version and can stand repeated heating up. That's the good point compared to chicken.

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  6. Hi Phong Hong, this soup is also good serve with noodles. You can add some Chinese cabbage.

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  7. Oh I must show my mom your recipe. Yummy.

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  8. Hi cquek, thanks. Hope your mom will like it. I love it cos' it isn't an oily surface at all.

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  9. rather a unique combination of ingredients in the soup :)

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  10. Hi Lena, most people will think of using chicken comes to boiling soup.

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  11. This is a delicious looking soup, i know i will love this for sure :)

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  12. Hi Lite Home Bake, personally I prefer this kind of soup more than those with lots of chicken and the soup looks yellowish cos' of the chicken fats.

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  13. 请问有一包小包包是什么材料湯包呢?

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  14. Hi Anonymous, is a muslin bag where I used to put garlic, ginger and mashed peppercorns. Purpose is to separate these ingredients from the soup and we can enjoy slurp the soup till the last drop without the peppercorns. The soup is clear.

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