Fake Shark's Fin Soup 碗仔翅

Fake Shark’s Fin Soup 碗仔翅 (Cantonese:  woon zai chee) is a famous Hong Kong street food.  It started out as real authentic shark’s fin in the 1940’s.  Street vendors in Mong Kok would buy shark’s fin odds and ends as well as the leftover meat from broth from restaurants.  The meat from broth was often in the form of chicken necks as well as pork bones.  They would shred the meat on the bones into fine pieces, add the sharks fin, black fungus, shiitake mushrooms, egg, soy sauce, white pepper powder and water chestnut starch to make a thick soup. And this was the original street style shark’s fin soup.

By the 1960’s, street vendors were replacing the shark’s fin with mung bean vermicelli. The real shark's fin was officially gone.  I prefer mung bean vermicelli even if the humanitarian aspect wasn’t a factor.  Shark’s fin has no taste and does not absorb flavours well.  The good thing about it is it has collagen, but then lots of things have collagen.  I’m really glad that a lot of Chinese people are now stopping their consumption of shark’s fin.  Consequently, Fake Shark’s Fin Soup 碗仔翅 should become even more popular.

I’ve never had Fake Shark’s Fin Soup (except the one I make) but I have had real shark’s fin soup.  My Fake Shark’s Fin Soup 碗仔翅 recipe is basically shark’s fin soup without the shark’s fin. 

A really fun idea is to make a few Hong Kong street foods like Fake Shark’s Fin Soup 碗仔翅, Curry Fish Balls 咖哩魚蛋, Soy Sauce Chow Mein 豉油皇炒麵, Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯 and Fried Stuffed 3 Treasures 煎釀三寶 and serve them in paper cups and wax paper bags.  I’m sure your family and friends would get a kick out of that!  The folks who lived in Hong Kong will be so happy that you could help them reminisce the good ol’ days!

Fake Shark's Fin Soup 碗仔翅

An idea to spice things up would be to add some thinly sliced pieces of tofu, bamboo shoots, more white pepper powder and some vinegar to may this a Hot and Sour Fake Shark’s Fin Soup.

I like adding some crunchy bits to this soup too. You could add deep-fried wonton wrapper or puffed rice.

Add some red vinegar to it, just like regular shark’s fin soup.

You may also choose to use julienned fresh meat instead of cooked meat.

5 from 1 vote

Approximate cost (CAD) $6

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Appetizer, Soup

Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese, Hong Kong

Servings 6 Servings

Calories 157 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 200 g Cooked pork or chicken (previously used from making soup), hand shredded
• 10 g Dried black fungus julienned
• 1 bunch Mung bean vermicelli (approx. 15g)
• 4 Shiitake mushrooms , julienned (soak overnight or at least 3 hours if using dried ones)
• 1.5 L Broth (pork or chicken)
• ½ tbsp Dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• ¼ tsp White pepper powder
• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp Water chestnut starch for slurry (corn starch may be substituted)
• 2 tbsp Water for slurry

Instructions

 

• Skip this step if you already have cooked pork or chicken and broth. To make broth: you can make 1.5L of pork or chicken broth using approx. 900g pork bones or chicken bones that have some meat attached and 2L water. First clean the bones by putting them in a pot, add water to cover them, then bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, remove the bones and rinse with cold water. Put the bones in a pot again with 1.8L fresh water and add a few slices of ginger. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to low and let cook for 2 hours. Remove the bones and meat from the broth. Strain the broth and set aside.
  
• Soak dried black fungus in water for 1 hour or until softened
  
• Blanche the black fungus in boiling water for 1 minute, remove from water and let cool
  
• Soak mung bean vermicelli in water for 15 minutes. Dry in colander and cut into 3-5cm pieces I like mung bean vermicelli so I used 2 bunches instead of 1. But note that the soup will be thicker with more vermicelli
  
• Remove the meat from the bones if not already done
  
• Hand shred the meat until it is in fine shreds and set aside
  
• Julienne the soaked black fungus and shiitake mushrooms
  
• Beat 1 egg and set aside
  
• Combine 1 tbsp water chestnut starch with 2 tbsp water, mix and set aside water chestnut starch is preferred over other starches because of its ability to bind with water and not separate. This feature is more important if the soup will be continuously heated such as in a retail environment. If you’re just making it for your family, corn starch will do the job. But if you’re looking for authenticity, water chestnut starch is the way to go
  
• Combine 1.5L broth, julienned black fungus, julienned shiitake mushrooms, shredded pork or chicken and mung bean vermicelli in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low
  
• Add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, ¼ tsp white pepper powder, ½ tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt (amount of salt may vary if your broth had already been salted) and ½ tbsp dark soy sauce. Mix well
  
• Taste and make adjustments. Add more dark soy sauce if you would like it darker
• Stir the slurry and pour it into the soup slowly while stirring at the same time. You may add more slurry if you want it thicker, however, note that the vermicelli will also add thickness to the soup once it cools a bit
  
• Slowly pour the egg into the soup in a continuous stream either in a circular motion or zigzag motion
  
• Slowly move the chopsticks from one side of the pot to the opposite side to form egg ribbons
  
• Serve by itself or with red vinegar
  

Nutrition

Calories: 157kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 10gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 1315mgPotassium: 158mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 574IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Black Fungus, Chicken, Pork, Shiitake Mushroom, Soup, Vermicelli

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