The Shun Lee Cookbook - Michael Tong [26]
Soups
IN CHINA, most families have soup with their meals. Until recently drinks—tea, water, beer, or wine—were not served with a family dinner, so the soup was not just a savory dish but also the liquid refreshment. The Cantonese start their meal with soup, while the people of Beijing and Shanghai have soup during the course of the meal. At a banquet, soup is served in the middle or at the end, not at the beginning.
Today it is more common to serve beer or wine with a meal at home, and of course people do drink alcoholic beverages when dining at restaurants.
A soup can be thin and clear, or thick and filled with meat, noodles, or dumplings. At Shun Lee, most of our customers enjoy their soup as an appetizer, or perhaps someone will order one of the more substantial soups for their lunchtime meal.
Soup-making is a satisfying experience, especially if you make your own stock. A soup like Velvet Chicken and Corn Soup takes only ten minutes, while the rich, fragrant West Lake Duck Soup simmers for several hours.
CHICKEN STOCK IS USED IN COOKING many Chinese dishes, whether meat, fowl, fish, or vegetable. Shun Lee’s everyday chicken stock, which we make fresh each day, is light and clean-tasting. It is worth making because it is excellent, and because it keeps well in the freezer. You can use canned reduced-sodium chicken broth in a pinch, but it is seasoned for Western dishes, not Asian ones. Nonetheless, it is an acceptable substitute. Makes 2 quarts
Chicken Stock
One 3 ½-pound whole chicken, chopped with a cleaver into 16 to 20 pieces
3 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and flattened with the cleaver
Five ⅛-inch-thick slices peeled fresh ginger
One 4-ounce piece Smithfield ham, cut into 12 pieces
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 1 ½ minutes to remove some of the surface fat. Drain, and rinse under cold running water. (This refreshes the chicken.)
2. Return the chicken to the saucepan. Add 12 cups of water and the scallions, ginger, and ham. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and partially cover the saucepan. Simmer until deeply flavored, about 1 ½ hours.
3. Using a wide wire-mesh skimmer, remove and discard the solids from the stock. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh wire sieve into a large bowl. Cool until tepid. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. Scrape off and discard the yellow fat from the surface of the stock. Store the stock, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days, or freeze it in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
THIS FAMOUS SOUP, brimming with morsels of bean curd, dried lilies, and tree ears, is popular in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. In Beijing, people often make a complete meal of the soup, accompanying it with either scallion pancakes or pan-fried dumplings, and I suggest that you might do the same. Makes 4 servings
Hot and Sour Soup
½ cup (1 ½ ounces) tree ears
¼ cup (1 ounce) dried lily buds
4 Chinese dried black mushrooms (1 ½ ounces)
2 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin 1-inch-long strips
¼ cup canned bamboo shoots (1 ½ ounces), rinsed, drained, and cut into 1-inch-long julienne
½ cake firm bean curd, cut in half horizontally, and then crosswise into thin 1-inch-long strips
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups Chicken Stock (page 70) or canned chicken broth
¼ cup soy sauce
1 ½ teaspoons ground white pepper, or more to taste
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 scallion, green part only, trimmed and minced
1. Place the tree ears, lily buds, and dried mushrooms in three separate bowls. Add hot water to cover to each bowl, and let stand until