high cuisine - shark fin 魚翅

Shark fin has been used as ingredient in luxury dishes in Chinese haute cuisine. It was served in the most special occasions such as wedding banquets and meals in the imperial palaces. During my youth growing up in Hong Kong my parents would bring us to wedding banquets of our friends and relatives. It was only in these special occasions where dishes with shark fins were served. Typically the shark fins are prepared as a viscous and tasty soup. This soup is most often served among the 10 or so entrees during a banquet.
shark fin photo from wikipedia

a very large shark fin on display at a shark fin soup restaurant in the Tokyo Station

Those were the days before the recognition of conservation of the endangered species of the world. Also in Asia the demand and consumption of exotic food and poaching had not become wide spread epidemic.

With the economic rise of many Asian countries in recent decades the demand exacted tolls on the supply of the ingredients of what once luxury dishes that were accessible for the wealthy and royalties. Of these reckless harvest of shark fins is amongst the most appalling and is well publicized in recent years. Slowly in many Asian countries the attitude are changing especially amongst the younger generation. Unfortunately with the recent rise in affluence in China the demand for exotic food (and the beliefs of their often false notions of their over-exaggerated health benefits) has increased and fuels the world illegal poaching of the most endangered animals including shark, elephants, bear, rhinos, tigers, and lions. Typically these animals are killed only to harvest a small portion of their body to satisfy the groundless believes of their fanciful benefits to health. For example, the rhinos and elephants are killed just for their tusks and sharks just for the fins.

Long ago I took some cooking class taught by a master chef of Cantonese cuisine. Amongst many classic dishes shark fin soup was one of the dish he taught. Recently I decide to give it a try because I have most of the ingredients.

Shark fins are harvested for their unique texture and mouth feel. When properly prepared, one important step is to deodorize the fins so not to impart foul taste or odor to the finished shark fin soup. Unlike most other fish sharks' skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bones. Their fins are made of similar flexible cartilage-like matter which is the curse why the animal is hunted to near extinction.

In my shark fin soup there is no shark fin. However the prepared soup would taste every bit as good except the texture and mouth feel attributable to the fins.

A great bowl of shark fin soup is all about a good broth that it is made with. The broth forms the foundation of a good bowl of shark fin soup. In Chinese it is referred to as the top broth 上湯. I started with chicken bones and the gizzards left over from preparing other dishes. The bone mainly consists of the main carcass of the chicken after the breast, upper and lower limbs are removed. I used three carcasses for this half full Dutch oven.
the base stock called top broth 上湯 by chinese chefs

Because in my rendition without the textures from the fins I took the liberty to add a few ingredients that are traditionally not used in the dish. I added fish maw and Japanese dried scallops 乾瑤柱. Fish maw is made from the swim bladder (air sack) of large fish. It has many names in Chinese including 魚肚 (fish stomach) and 魚鰾 (fish air bladder). The one I use has been roasted in sand so they expand and takes on a sponge like texture. In fact they are very similar to fried pork skin which has gain popularity in the West as snacks.

Like shark fin fish maw does not add taste or flavor to the dish. It is eaten for it's texture. The dried scallops, however bring immense umami to the soup.

dried fish maw 魚肚

fish maw in 1 lb bag

soak in water to hydrate them and to remove dirt and any slight odor

dried japanese 日本 scallops 乾瑤柱 are steamed soft in water for a few hours

dried shitake 香菇 or 花菇 mushrooms is soaked in water overnight

shitake  花菇 mushrooms in 5 lb bag

then cooked in a broth and seasoning to infuse flavor into the meat

The shitake mushroom adds an accent of fragrance to the dish. I prefer the dried ones over fresh ones as they are more aromatic. The big ones with the characteristic patterns as in the photo above are called 花菇 (flower mushroom) due to the flower-like pattern. It is more aromatic than ones without the pronounce pattern. Also the good ones should have be very thick so they are meaty. For this dish I use very little of them so not to compete the delicate taste of the soup. The proper way is to slice them into very thin strips. Once soaked and rinsed the fish maw are also cut up into small pieces and add to the broth.

I strained out he chicken broth from the bone. In preparing the broth I intentionally not to cooked out all the flavor of the meat on the bone. I remove the meat from the bones and added back into the broth.
bone carefully picked clean

here is some bit of meat i recovered in the process; there is a lot more not shown

the ginger and scallions are to flavor the broth; they would be removed before serving

There are two additionally ingredients that the mouthwatering fragrance - aged mandarin peel (chanpi) 陳皮 and a rice wine call from Shaohsing 紹與 called Hua Tiao Chiew 花雕洒.

aged mandarin peel (chanpi) 陳皮; i added them to the broth an hour before the broth is done and then fish them out

Shaohsing Hua Tiao Chiew 紹與花雕洒; the rice wine imparts the fragrance to the soup so you don't want to add it too early least you boil off all the smell

Good Shaohsing Hua Tiao Chiew 紹與花雕洒 can be hard to find in North America. I found this while in Vancouver BC. In high quality Cantonese cuisine it is use for many dishes including some stir fried dishes. I had long gave up buying the cooking wine from Asian grocery stores due to unacceptable poor quality (yes, your dish would end up worst than not using them). Good quality Chinese wine and spirit can only be found in liquor stores in North America and only in big cities with large Chinese population. Needless to say here in Portland, Oregon there are none.

The last step is to thicken the soup with a mixture of cornstarch and water to give it viscous. It is important not to over-thicken it.

it is a custom to add a small dash of wine vinegar -  i used western vinegar as most of the vinegars found in asian grocery store are junk

 shark fin soup without shark fin - i can eat a few bowls of this in one setting

Because I made a good size batch, there is enough for a couple of days. In the weekend I happen to come across this Korean cold noodle (naengmyeon) and I thought it would be perfect to use it as the shark fin substitute. Naengmyeon is a chewy noodle that is eaten cold and are prized for it's stringy and rubbery texture.

there are many different flavors and i think this one has seaweeds - i only use very little of the noodle and discarded the powder broth stock it comes with

there is about a table spoon of the naengmyeon (the korean cold noodle) as shark fin substitute

the result is a rather good substitute without buying the artificial shark fins

In retrospect the naengmyeon noodle (the korean cold noodle) would look more like shark fins had I cut them into 1.5" long. There you have it, shark fin soup without the guilt.