Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

635 g Dried shark's fin *
12 Bamboo fungi (all similar
-size, about 4 gms each)
12 sm Crab claws
1 c Stock
12 Coriander sprigs (for
-garnish)
12 Asparagus (all similar
-size, about 1.5 g each)
150 g Bean sprouts
Cooking oil
Salt
1/4 ts Ginger juice

------------------------SHRIMP PASTE-----------------------------
3/4 c Minced shrimp meat (approx.
-1 20 g)
1/2 ts Cornstarch
Salt

-------------------SIMMERING INGREDIENTS------------------------
2 Ginger root slices
2 Shallots
1 tb Chinese yellow wine (or
-sherry)

-----------------------CRAB ROE SAUCE----------------------------
150 g Crab roe
2 tb Water
1 tb Cornstarch
1/4 ts Salt
5 c Stock

--------------------------GARNISH-------------------------------
1 tb Shredded Chinese cured ham

* (note: there is no suitable substitute for shark's fin)

This is some serious food++as most of these recipes are. They are the
creations of one of the most intense culinary environments in the
world and the competition is fierce. I've never seen the Bamboo
Fungus called for in this soup in any of the Asian markets I've been
in and preparing a Shark's Fin is not for the impatient.

Establishment: Bui Hang Village Restaurant (Hotel Miramar) UG/F.,
Princess Wing, Hotel Miramar, 130 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon.

Chinese Cuisine Practical Class Platinum Award - Shark's Fin "Gossamer
curtains veiling exquisite feminine shadows" would be a justifiably
poetical translation for the mood-setting name of this dish. The
bamboo fungus, a deluxe vegetarian ingredient with almost mystical
connotations, is envisaged as a curtain of delicate fibres, through
which the beguilingly beautiful forms of the superlative shark's fin
can be glimpsed. Red Mayflowers (denoted by the crab roe) are
"embroidered" on the curtains, adding a third level of appetizing
connotations.

To prepare 1. Soak, shark's fin for 4 hours in cold water, and then
simmer over medium heat for 10 hours. 2. Clean bamboo fungi and soak
in cold water for 3 to 4 hours. 3. Steam-clean crab claws for
approximately 3 minutes on plate on wok stand above boiling water. 4.
Make shrimp paste by mixing shrimp meat with cornstarch and pinch of
salt.

To cook 1. Mix simmering ingredients with water (sufficient to cover
fin) and bring to the boil. Add cooled shark's fin and boil for 5
minutes. Dram well and stuff inside bamboo fungi. 2. Arrange stuffed
fungi on a deep plate. Mix 1 cup of stock and 1/4 tsp of salt and
pour over fungi. Cover and steam for 15 minutes. 3. Coat each claw
with 10 g of shrimp paste, garish with a sprig of coriander, place in
a deep plate, cover and steam for 3 minutes. 4. Add 1 cup oil to
heated wok, then add asparagus and saute for 30 seconds. Drain and
place asparagus in 3 cups of salted water and simmer until just
cooked. Drain and refresh with cold water. 5. Stir-fry bean sprouts
in a heated wok with 1 tbs oil, 1/2 tsp salt and ginger juice until
half-cooked, but still crunchy. Remove from wok. 6. To make crab roe
sauce, add water, cornstarch and salt to stock. Over a high flame,
bring to the boil. Add crab roe and bring to the boil again (at which
point presentation platter should be ready for this sauce).

To present 1. Arrange stuffed bamboo fungi like spokes of a wheel,
pointing inwards on serving dish. Lay asparagus and crab claws
between them. 2. Pour freshly boiled crab roe sauce over dish. Pile
bean sprouts in centre, top with shredded ham.

From "Champion Recipes of the 1986 Hong Kong Food Festival". Hong Kong
Tourist Association, 1986.

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; October 26 1992.

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