Ingredients
200 g water shield leaves, 200 g clear broth, 150 g sea bass fillet, 25 g cooked chicken shreds, 10 g cooked ham shreds, 1 egg white.
Seasonings
250 g (about 1/2 lb) lard, 25 g (about 3 tablespoons) wet starch, 15 g (about 1 tablespoon) Shaoxing wine, 10 g (about 2 teaspoons) chicken fat, 5 g each ginger juice, shredded scallion, and shredded dried tangerine peel, 4 g (about 3/4 teaspoon) salt, 3 g (about 1/2 teaspoon) white pepper, 2.5 g (about 1/2 teaspoon) MSG.
Instructions
1. Clean the fish fillet, remove the skin and blood vessels, then cut into 6 cm (about 2.4 inch) long shreds. Add 1.5 g salt, egg white, 5 g Shaoxing wine, and 0.5 g MSG, mix until well-combined and sticky, then stir in 10 g wet starch to coat evenly. Blanch the water shield in boiling water, immediately drain in a colander, and set aside in a bowl.
2. Heat the wok over high heat, swirl in lard, and when it reaches 40-50% hot (about 275-300°F), add the marinated fish shreds, gently loosening them with chopsticks; once they turn jade-white, drain in a colander.
3. Leave a moderate amount of oil in the wok, add scallion segments and stir-fry briefly. Add 10 g (about 2 teaspoons) Shaoxing wine, 2.5 g (about 1/2 teaspoon) salt, 250 g (about 1 cup) clear broth and water. Once boiling, remove the scallion segments. Add MSG and ginger juice, thicken with a light cornstarch slurry. Then add the fish shreds and water shield leaves, gently swirl the wok. Add ham shreds, chicken shreds, and scallion shreds, stir to combine. Drizzle with chicken fat, transfer to a soup bowl, and sprinkle with dried tangerine peel shreds and white pepper. This soup features tender fish shreds and a pleasing color.