Have you ever had a fragrant Chinese fish soup that is milky white that taste fresh and hearty with some vegetables? The piping hot soup garnished with a little bit of cilantro and add a dash of white pepper on top for the heat, this type of soup is a delicacy served at Chinese restaurants. But it can actually be made easily at home, if you’re willing to go out to the chinese market to pick up a fresh fish. In this post, I will teach you how to make this deliciously fresh fish soup in just an hour!
Where to Pick Up Fresh Fish?
I would recommend going to Chinese supermarkets that have live seafood in the tanks. The key to tasting the freshness of the soup is to pick up a fresh fish. You can find fresh fish either in the tanks or on ice at the market.
How to Pick a Fresh fish?
To pick a fish that is fresh, you need to open up the gills. If the gills are bright red, that means your fish is fresh. If it is a dark maroon red, that means the fish has been dead for awhile.
Do I need to butcher the fish?
Ask the fish monger to descale and clean the fish for you, luckily you can just use the whole fish for this recipe, no need to filet any fish on your part to make this soup!
Ingredients
- 1 pound black bass
- 1 lb lean pork (no fat)
- 1 box of silken tofu
- 1 bunch bok choy
- Thumb size ginger
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel and slice ginger. Us the back of your knife to bruise the ginger to get flavor out. Cube pork in 2 inch increments.
- Bring a pot of 12 cups of water to a boil. Using a smaller pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Once small pot is boiling, add in lean pork and boil out impurities for 2 minutes and drain with cold water.
- Using a wok, add 1 tbsp of oil on medium heat. Once oil is hot, carefully add in fish. Let fish fry for few minutes until fish is golden brown before flipping.
- Once both sides of fish is golden brown, use 1 cup of water from soup and add water into the wok. When water turns milky white, you can add the fish and broth into soup pot.
- Add in pork and ginger to soup pot and boil for 1 hour. After an hour, add in vegetables and tofu for a few minutes and salt to taste. Depending on size of fish, you can continue to boil fish up to half an hour more to get more flavor out.
- Garnish soup with fresh cilantro and pepper to taste.
How to Make Chinese Fish Soup
Have you ever had a fragrant Chinese fish soup that is milky white that taste fresh and hearty with some vegetables? The piping hot soup garnished with a little bit of cilantro and add a dash of white pepper on top for the heat, this type of soup is a delicacy served at Chinese restaurants.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 2–3 1x
- Method: boil
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
- 1 pound black bass
- 1 lb lean pork (no fat)
- 1 box of silken tofu
- 1 bunch bok choy
- Thumb size ginger
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel and slice ginger. Us the back of your knife to bruise the ginger to get flavor out. Cube pork in 2 inch increments.
- Bring a pot of 12 cups of water to a boil. Using a smaller pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Once small pot is boiling, add in lean pork and boil out impurities for 2 minutes and drain with cold water.
- Using a wok, add 1 tbsp of oil on medium heat. Once oil is hot, carefully add in fish. Let fish fry for few minutes until fish is golden brown before flipping.
- Once both sides of fish is golden brown, use 1 cup of water from soup and add water into the wok. When water turns milky white, you can add the fish and broth into soup pot.
- Add in pork and ginger to soup pot and boil for 1 hour. After an hour, add in vegetables and tofu for a few minutes and salt to taste. Depending on size of fish, you can continue to boil fish up to half an hour more to get more flavor out.
- Garnish soup with fresh cilantro and pepper to taste
Keywords: fish soup Chinese style