Soup Name: Chicken Fish Stomach Soup
Traditional Chinese Name: 魚胃雞湯 (yú wei ji tāng)
Introduction:
Fish stomach does not have a strong taste and is usually combined with another meat, using the other meat (chicken or pork) as the base flavour for the broth. It is not uncommon to occasionally combine different meats in soups together for added flavour and nutritional benefits.
The fish stomach makes for a very rich broth that tastes delicious when combined with ginger and the natural sweetness of dried longan. A great winter or fall soup.
What Ingredients are required?
1/2 dried fish stomach
1 whole chicken (or chicken bones or feet)
20 pieces of dried chinese mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried wolfberries
15 pieces dried longan
1 small piece of fresh ginger
4 pieces of dried scallop
1.5 – 2L cold water
How do I prepare it?
- Soak and thoroughly wash the dried fish stomach (may need to rinse and re-soak a few times) for one to two hours or until softened. When soft enough, cut the fish stomach into bite-sized pieces
- Soak the chinese mushrooms for at least one hour. Wash and cut off the stump.
- Prepare the whole chicken (see here for details) and blanch the chicken in a separate pot of boiling water. Alternatively, you can use chicken bones or chicken feet and pieces.
- Start boiling your main soup water
- Add the chicken and dried fish stomach to the soup
- When boiling again, add the chinese mushrooms, wolfberries, fresh ginger, dried longan, and dried scallops to your soup
- Boil for at least 60-90 minutes on high heat. The longer you boil it, the tastier the soup!
Any benefits?
- It is a great soup to drink during the winter or fall because of the richness and heatiness of the soup.
Any precautions?
- If you are too heaty, it is best to wait until you have re-balanced before drinking.
Hi,
Love your blog! Although I don’t read chinese I find it very easy to follow. Amazing! Been trying out your recipes and very keen on this but not sure of the quantity for fish stomach. How much does 1/2 weigh or roughly what’s the size? We generally use those deep fried fish maw and they don’t take long to cook but doubt it’s the one you use in this recipe. Appreciate it. Thanks!
Hi Jocelyn,
We usually have the long ones, so 1/2 would be probably 3 inches in length. This is up to you how much you want to add. Just keep in mind that the more you add and the longer you boil it, the thicker the soup becomes because of the collagen type contents of the fish maw. The ones we use aren’t deep fried, just dried so they are super hard and you need to pre-soak in water before usage (preferably over night). I hope this helps, but drop me a line if still not clear.
Lisa