Bones from 1-2 jade perch fish
1 garlic
3cm piece of ginger
Quarter of a whole cabbage
3 shiitake mushrooms
2 small carrots
1 tomato
1 box of tofu
1 red date
1 tsp kombu powder (optional)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 1-2 hours until fully hydrated.
2. Slice the ginger into strips, bruise the garlic, slice the cabbage in half, peel and cut the carrots into smaller sizes and slice the fully hydrated mushrooms in half. Keep the mushroom liquid for later use.
3. In a dry pot, add in the garlic, ginger and cabbage and dry fry on medium heat until it starts to char on the edges of the ingredients.
4. Add in the carrots and mushrooms and the liquid that the mushrooms are soaking in. Caution, if your pot is very hot, a lot of steam will generate and you might hurt yourself, so practice caution during this step.
5. Add in the fish bones, the kombu powder and give it a good mix before covering the ingredients completely with water. After which, add in the tomato quarters and red date.
6. Bring it to a simmer and hold it there for a minimum of 2 hrs, periodically, come back and remove the impurities that has floated to the top of the soup.
7. After 2 hours, you can strain the entire pot to remove all the bones of the fish. This step is optional but advisable if you are serving this to any children or elderly.
8. After straining, add in sliced tofu pieces and heat through, followed by salt and pepper adjusted to your taste.
9. Serve up as a great nutritious dish to your meals!
Watch Professional Chef Emmett Ng, graduate from Le Cordon Bleu, prepare this Simple Golden Fish Soup using FIN by Boat’s Jade Perch!