Sharks Fin Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds of dry shark fins
Piesces of dry garlic
2 pieces of ginger root
2 tablespoonfuls of lard
Primary soup
1 cup of chicken starch
3 eggs
Chinese ham, diced
Cornstarch, salt
Parsley to garnish
(Optional) 1 tablespoonful red vinegar

(Instruction is mostly verbatim from “The Chinese Cook Book,” by Shiu Wong Chan of New York, 1917. Pages 101-102.)

Steep fins and tails in boiling water for ½ hour. Scrape skin off with a knife. Boil fins and tails for 1 hour or until they fall to pieces. Remove every piece of meat, skin and bone. Only what is left, a fin soft yellow in color, is kept. This is dried and sold from two to three dollars a pound as shark fins.

(a) Buy dry shark fins from Chinese grocery store. Soak in cold water for 3 hours.

(b) Boil fins with several pieces of dry garlic and 2 pieces of ginger root. Change water several times when boiling.

(c) Put into pan. Add 2 tablespoonfuls of lard, and more than twice the amount of primary soup to cover. Boil slowly for ½ hour. Drain off the liquid and throw it away.

(d) Put into another pan with 6 pints of primary soup. Boil.

(e) Change again into third pan of primary soup. Add gravy (1 cup of chicken starch, whites of 3 eggs, diced Chinese ham and a little cornstarch and salt). Use 1 tablespoonful red vinegar to improve taste. Garnish with parsley. Serve hot.

My notes
The strings of shark cartilage should float like fine, transparent noodles. As condiments, you can mix in a little red vinegar with shredded ginger.