30 minutes until swollen and transparent. Drain.
Heat stock with soy sauce, shallot oil, salt, and pepper, then add shark's fin, scallops, fish maw, ginger, and chicken. Thicken with cornstarch and serve. Garnish with shredded Yunnan ham. In southern China, a few drops of black rice vinegar are generally added to the soup at the table.
The scallops and fish maw depicted in the photograph opposite are optional, and may be ready-bought in dried form. To prepare the scallops, place them in a bowl containing chicken stock, dry sherry, ginger, and scallion. Steam in a steamer until the scallops are soft.
To prepare the fish maw, place them in a bowl, pour enough hot water over to soak them, cover with a lid, and set aside until soft.
Note: To make shallot oil, peel and slice about 8 shallots. Heat 1 cup of oil, add the shallots and simmer in the oil until the shallots are golden. Do not allow the shallots to burn or the flavor will be bitter. Drain and store the oil in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
Hong Tang Dan Dan Mian
Hot and Spicy Hawker Noodles
It's hard to think of any time of day when noodles are not popular in China; they're eaten for breakfast, as a mid-morning snack, for lunch, as something to keep you going until dinner and as a late-night restorative. This spicy favorite, often sold by mobile vendors or at streetside stalls, originates in Sichuan.
1 lb (500g) fresh wheat-flour noodles, or ¾ lb (375 g) narrow flat dried noodles
1 teaspoon cooking oil
8 oz (250 g) lean pork, very finely minced
½ cup (100 g) preserved salted radish, finely chopped
2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock
4 tablespoons black soy sauce
1½ tablespoons black rice vinegar
1 tablespoon very finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons Sichuan pepper oil (page 47)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili oil (page 47)
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 heaped tablespoon finely sliced scallion (spring onion)
Set the noodles aside for blanching later. Heat cooking oil and stir fry the pork over very high heat for 2-3 minutes, until cooked. Mix well with the preserved radish and set aside.
Heat chicken stock and add all other ingredients except noodles and scallion. Keep stock warm while blanching noodles in rapidly boiling water for 1 minute.
Drain noodles and divide among 4 small bowls. Pour over hot stock, top with the pork mixture, garnish with scallion and serve.
HELPFUL HINT
Preserved salted radish is available from Asian stores. If unavailable use Tientsin preserved vegetables (tung chay) instead if you like.
Chao Mian Xian
Fried Noodles Xiamen Style
Very fine fresh wheat-flour noodles, like angel-hair pasta, are used for this dish. Try to get fresh ones as the texture is superior to dried noodles.
10 oz (300 g) small shrimp
1 lb (500 g) fresh wheat-flour noodles
Oil for deep-frying
2 tablespoons very finely chopped garlic
7 oz (200 g) bamboo shoots, in matchstick shreds
4 oz (125 g) lean pork, finely shredded
1 small carrot, in matchstick shreds
3-4 dried black mushrooms, soaked and finely shredded
¼ cup chopped Chinese coarse chives
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
4 shallots, sliced and deep-fried until golden brown
Peel shrimp, remove heads and devein. Keep shrimp aside and put heads and shells in a pan with 1 cup (250 ml) water. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pressing on heads and shells to extract the maximum stock. Set aside.
Shake the noodles to separate if using fresh noodles, then deep fry in very hot oil for a few seconds until golden brown. Drain well and set aside, discarding oil. If using dried noodles, blanch in boiling water until just softened.
Put 1 tablespoon of fresh oil into the wok, stir fry the garlic for a few seconds, then add the shrimp, bamboo shoots, pork, carrot, mushrooms, and chives. Stir-fry until the pork and shrimp change color. Pour in ½ (125 ml) cup of the reserved shrimp stock, add wine, salt and pepper and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the noodles and continue stir-frying, mixing well, for another 5 minutes. Serve garnished with fried shallots.
Chengdu Leng Mian
Cold Chengdu Noodles
1 lb (500 g) fresh wheat-flour noodles, boiled, drained and chilled
¾ cup beansprouts, blanched for a few seconds and chilled
1 scallion (spring onion), finely sliced Sauce
2 tablespoons very finely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon very finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon sesame paste
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 teaspoon peanut oil or cooking oil
3 tablespoons black soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons black rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili oil
Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Add the noodles and stir to coat the noodles with the sauce, then add bean sprouts and mix carefully with chopsticks or a fork, taking care not to break the sprouts. Divide among 4 bowls and sprinkle each portion with a little scallion.
Yu Xiang Qie Zi
Fragrant Eggplant with Pork
8 oz (250g) eggplant (aubergine), peeled and cut in 3 x ½-in (8 x 1-cm) pieces
Oil
