In English they're both called dried scallops, but in Chinese sometimes we call such "scallop" ingredient Gan Bei 干貝 or Yao Zhu 瑤柱. To make it even more confusing, there's also Yuan Bei 元貝.
While the Gan Bei and Yao Zhu generally means the same dried scallops, Yuan Bei on the other hand usually refers to the best quality dried scallops of them all. Better origin, better shape, and better size.
Basically you get what you pay for, and there can be a big price variation for such ingredient. So just use whichever tier of dried scallop that you're comfortable with. We do want to make a fancier version of chicken soup this time, but not THAT fancy and leaving you with a hole in the pocket.
Chicken soup with dried scallop and flower mushroom 瑤柱花菇雞湯 -
Ingredients (about 5 to 6 medium servings)?
- 12 medium large dried flower mushrooms (or shiitake mushrooms)
- 10 medium dried scallops
- 1/2 chicken (I used one whole smaller chicken)
- 1 chunk ginger
- Some salt
- Some water
How?
This recipe needs to prep the day before. So first rinse the dried flower or shiitake mushrooms, then soak the mushrooms using 5 cups of room temperature water. Cover the container with a lid or cling foil, into the fridge overnight.
Do the same for dried scallops, but use 4 cups of water instead.
On the actual cooking day, keep all the soaking water. Take out the mushrooms first and trim-off the tougher stems. As for the scallops, remove the tougher muscle on the side if needed. I didn't do that for my batch of scallops and didn't encounter anything chewy when enjoying the soup.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil then add in the chicken. Just a quick boil in the hot water, kind of like semi-drawing out the dirty bits. Shouldn't take more than five minutes. Once ready, remove the chicken and rinse under cold water.
Now have a big pot ready and add in the chicken. Transfer the mushrooms, mushroom soaking water, scallops, and scallop soaking water to the pot. Also add more water till about one centimeter higher than the ingredients in the pot. I added 3 more cups here.
Scrape and slice a small chunk of ginger, about 1.5 mm in thickness. We need 2 to 3 slices, add that to the pot also.
Bring the whole thing to a boil first then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Put on the lid and continue to cook for at least 40 minutes. Especially during the first 10 minutes, pay attention and scoop out any grey foamy bits floating on top.
Only season the soup with some salt in the end. I used one teaspoon here. Also remember to pick out the ginger slices in the end.
The soup is good by itself. However, I love to scoop some overnight cold rice to the hot soup and enjoy it as a complete meal.
For noodle lovers, simply cook up some Chinese flour-based noodles, drain, then add to the soup. The most just add a little chili sauce for an extra kick.
Other Asian soup recipes:
- Korean spicy beef and radish soup
- Wonton skin soup
- Clear stewed beef soup with daikon and corn 無油煙版清燉牛肉湯
- Chicken mushroom and tomato soup in clear broth
- Radish corn and pork ribs soup 蘿蔔玉米排骨湯
