Hed Chef: Hockchew tofu soup

Much as I relish eating, watching family and friends enjoy the food I prepare is the most rewarding part of the cooking process.

This year, I did not get to make and partake in my family's reunion dinner as my maternal grandmother died two days before the eve of Chinese New Year.

So this week's recipe is my tribute to her. It is my luxe take on an old family recipe of Hockchew tauhu mong (tofu soup) that she used to cook for my grandfather before he died in 1968.

He was an immigrant from the city of Fuzhou in the Fujian province of China.

I never met the man, but from what my late grandmother told me, he took pleasure in eating good food.

He taught my grandmother how to prepare tauhu mong, among other classic Hockchew dishes.

I tweaked the recipe by using a rich collagen stock, dried scallops and enoki mushrooms.

The recipe is straightforward but requires so much work slicing and cutting that I prefer to make a large portion. It keeps well and tastes even better kept overnight.

My only regret is my grandmother is not around to taste my version of her signature soup. I am sure she would have approved as dried scallops were one of her favourite foods.

INGREDIENTS

(MAKES 10 SERVINGS)

• 360g chicken breast
• 900g chicken feet
• 7 litres of water
• 5 dried scallops
• 120ml water (to soak dried scallops)
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 200g pork collar, sliced into 2cm by 1cm strips
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms (40g), soaked and sliced
• 20g dried daylily flowers (also known as golden needles)
• 20g wood ear mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced
• 450g tofu, cut into 2cm by 1cm by 1cm pieces
• 200g enoki mushrooms, roots removed
• 12 medium-sized prawns (250g), deveined and halved
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 3 flat tsp salt
• Dash of pepper
• 3 tbsp potato starch
• 3 tbsp water
• 3 stalks of spring onion for garnish

METHOD

1. Bring two litres of water to a boil. Place the chicken breast and chicken feet in the boiling water and allow the water to come to a rolling boil. Blanch for three minutes until there is no visible blood. Discard the water and rinse the chicken breast and feet. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, bring the remaining five litres of water to a boil and place the blanched chicken breast and chicken feet in the pot. Boil on high heat for 11/2 hours and medium heat for another 11/2 hours. Use a muslin cloth to strain the chicken stock. Reserve the stock and discard the bones.

3. Rinse the dried scallops and soak them in 120ml water for an hour.

4. Heat the oil in a wok. Fry the garlic until fragrant and add the sliced pork. Fry for two minutes.

5. Add the shiitake and dried scallops and fry for a minute.

6. Add the daylily flowers and wood ear mushrooms.

7. Pour in the chicken stock and let the mixture come to a boil.

8. Add the tofu and enoki mushrooms. Once the soup comes to a boil, add the prawns and boil for one minute.

9. Add the light soya sauce, salt and a dash of pepper.

10. In a small bowl, mix the potato starch with three tablespoons of water. Add the starch mixture to the soup and stir.

11. Let the soup come to a gentle simmer and turn off the heat.

12. Serve garnished with spring onion.

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