| CATEGORY |
CUISINE |
TAG |
YIELD |
| Meats |
Chinese |
|
6 |
Servings |
INGREDIENTS
| 4 |
oz |
Precooked and cleaned shark's fin |
| 4 |
|
Dried Chinese mushrooms; 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter |
| 1 |
|
Whole chicken breast; about 3/4 pound |
| 4 |
c |
Chicken stock; fresh or canned, or cold water |
| 1 |
ts |
Soy sauce |
| 1 1/2 |
ts |
Salt |
| 1/8 |
ts |
White pepper |
| 2 |
tb |
Cornstarch; dissolved in 3 tablespoons cold chicken stock, fresh or canned, or cold water |
| 1 |
sl |
Smithfield ham; 1/8 inch thick, cut into fine shreds 1 1/2 to 2 inches long and 1/8 inch wide |
INSTRUCTIONS
Source: Recipes: Chinese Cooking from Foods of the World by Time Life
PREPARE AHEAD:
1. In a small saucepan, cover the shark's fin with 4 cups of cold water and
soak for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain off the soaking water, add 4
cups of fresh cold water to the pan and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour. Drain off the
water, rinse the shark's fin well under cold running water and drain again.
2. In small bowl, cover the mushrooms with 1/2 cup warm water and let them
soak for 30 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and discard the
water. With a cleaver or sharp knife, cut away and discard the tough stems
of the mmushroomsand shred the caps by placing them, one at a time, flat on
a chopping boards, then cutting each of the caps into paper-thin slices
horizontally. Cut the slices into the thinnest possible strips.
3. Bone, skin and shred the chicken breast in the following fashion: Lay
the whole chicken breast on its side on a chopping board. Holding the
breast firmly in place with your hand, cut it lengthwise through the skin,
along the curved breastbone, with a cleaver of sharp knife. Carefully cut
all the meat from the bones on one side of the breastbone. Then grasp the
meat in one hand and pull it off the bones and away from the skin - using
the cleaver to free the meat if necessary. Turn the breast over and repeat
on the other side. Remove each tube-shaped fillet from the boned breast
meat, and pull out and discard the white threadlike membranes. Lay the
breast meat and fillets flat and cut them horizontally into paper-thin
slices.Then cut the slices into shreds about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long and 1/8
inch wide.
TO COOK:
In a 3 to 4 quart saucepan, bring the chicken stock, shark's fin, soy
sauce, salt and pepper to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat, and
simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Add the chicken and mushrooms, and stir
thoroughly. Give the cornstarch mixture a quick stir to recombine it and
add it to the soup. Cook, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens
slightly. To serve. pour the soup into a tureen or individual soup bowls
and garnish it with the ham. Serve at once.
Posted to Bakery-Shoppe Digest V1 #177 by "Lisa
Whittington"<wildrose@community.net> on Aug 1, 1997
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