Dried Scallop & Chicken Soup
Your ethical, delectable answer to Shark Fin Soup!
Cooking Summary
Ingredients: (detailed list)
- Main Ingredients: dried scallop, chicken breast, oil, chicken broth, boiling water, cornstarch, water
- Chicken Marinade: salt, cornstarch, water, baking soda, oil
- Soup Seasoning: salt, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper
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Top 3 Mistakes
- Skipping the slurry remix:
Starch settles while the slurry sits. Stir it again before adding it, then follow the recipe’s gradual addition so you can control the sauce instead of making it too thick.
- Discarding the soaking liquid:
Save the liquid from soaking the dried scallops when you drain them. It goes into the soup later, so do not pour that flavorful part of the recipe down the sink during prep.
- Skipping the soaking step:
Rehydrate the dried ingredients before you start cooking. Follow the recipe’s soaking instructions so they soften properly rather than staying tough in the finished dish.
Overview
You may have heard of Shark Fin Soup, once a revered delicacy enjoyed by Chinese royalty and elites, then a luxurious banquet food for modern celebrations, and now... nowhere to be found!
It took years of environmental activism and a lot of help from celebrity platforms, but the cruel and unsustainable practice of harvesting shark fins, and how ecologically destructive the overfishing of sharks is, has finally come to public attention in the last several years, leading to the practice being completely banned in some countries.
However, Shark Fin Soup has had such a cultural standing in food history that people still kind of want to celebrate with it. But how do we keep it ethical?
Try this lookalike "Imitation Shark Fin Soup", which tastes similar but actually better, and is so easy to make!
Ingredients
Why this recipe
Most dried scallop & chicken soup recipes online are tested only a handful of times. My dad used to make this dish multiple times a day, every day, for 60+ years and can make this in his sleep.
I know you'll love it as much as our community does! This recipe has over 285.1K views, 5.7K likes on YouTube.
Buying dried scallops
Daddy and Mommy Lau explain that the quality of dried scallops is actually not dependent on size. When you're shopping, the larger scallops are more expensive because they're attractive and visually appealing rather than because of their quality. There's not much to consider when buying a package, other than making sure they don't look discolored, moist, and too broken up already.
Check out the dried ingredients section of your local Chinese grocery store. If you don't see it, you can buy it online here:
Once you have purchased a package and have brought it home (yay, congratulations!), the best way to store it is in an airtight container in the freezer. If your freezer is full, it'll also keep great in the fridge, though not for quite as long.
Seasoning with fish sauce
Lots of people use soy sauce to season the soup, but we use fish sauce instead! The funky fermented flavor of fish sauce adds a delicious, deeper umami note to the soup. If you can't have fish sauce, or cannot find it, or you just don't like it, not to worry! Just replace the fish sauce with light soy sauce.
How to make Dried Scallop & Chicken Soup
First, prepare dried scallops (1.5 oz). Using pliers, nutcrackers, or your favorite grippy smashy tool, break the dried scallops into pieces. Having the dried scallop in smaller pieces first will shorten the soaking time and make it easier for them to soften up.
Wash the small pieces of dried scallop, and then soak it in a small microwave-safe bowl full of hot water. Cover the bowl with a microwave-safe lid (check out Daddy Lau's expert workaround of using a microwave-safe plate as a lid!), and microwave for about 1 minute, or until it's soft. Set it aside for at least 10 minutes to let it soften.
Next, prepare the chicken breast (6 oz). It's easiest to cut precisely when partially frozen/thawed. Fully frozen chicken is too hard, like trying to cut ice, while fully thawed chicken is soft and slippery. In between is perfection--it will be firm enough to stay still, but soft enough to cut through.
Trim away any excess fat. Too much fat will make the soup greasy.
Cut the chicken into several large pieces for easier handling. Cut each large piece into thin slices, stack up the slices, and then cut into thin strips. Place the thin strips into a bowl and marinate with salt (0.50 tsp), cornstarch (1 tbsp), water (2 tbsp), baking soda (0.25 tsp).
To avoid lumps of cornstarch, you can always use Daddy Lau's handy method of mixing the marinade ingredients together on the side of the bowl, dissolving any clumps, before spreading it with the rest of the chicken.
Continue stirring the chicken with the marinade until all the strips are well-coated.
By now, the scallops will have soaked for about 10 minutes. Drain the scallops and squeeze out any excess water. Make sure to save the soaking liquid! We will be using the reserved soaking liquid in the soup.
Shred the scallops by mashing down on them with a spoon or by pulling the pieces after by hand, until there are no big pieces left.
Turn stove on to medium heat, add oil (1 tsp) to the soup pot. Add the shredded dried scallops and stir them around to lightly fry them. You should start to smell the aroma as they start to fry in the oil. Make sure to keep stirring to prevent sticking and burning.
After stir-frying for 40-50 seconds, pour in reserved scallop soaking liquid, chicken broth (14 oz), and boiling water (8 cup). Cover the pot with a lid to help it come to a boil faster.
In the meantime, prepare the cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch (7 tbsp) and water (5 tbsp) in a bowl. It may seem like a lot, but we're thickening a large volume of soup, so keep in mind that you may need even more!
Once the soup has come to a boil, turn the heat off, and let it cook in its own heat for 5 minutes to allow for the flavor of dried scallops to develop.
Turn the stove back on high heat and bring the soup back to a boil. Give it a stir, and then we're ready to thicken the soup.
Turn the heat to the lowest setting, or even off, and slowly pour the cornstarch slurry in while constantly stirring bottom of the soup. Monitor the thickness of the soup. We like this soup very thick and textured, but you may prefer a thinner broth, in which case you may not want to use all of the slurry.
Once thickened to your liking, turn the heat on high and bring the soup back to a boil. The soup will thin out a touch as it heats, so you can make and add more cornstarch slurry if it’s still not thick enough.
Season the soup and add color with salt (1 tbsp), fish sauce (1 tbsp), and dark soy sauce (2.5 tsp). The original shark fin soup has translucent threads against a dark broth, so we're kind of mimicking that look here. If you'd like a darker broth, continue to add small amounts of dark soy sauce at a time until it's to your liking.
Add oil (1 tsp) to the marinated chicken and mix it in. Turn the heat to medium-low and gently add the chicken to soup while stirring to spread the chicken around and to prevent big clumps of chicken.
Finally, season the soup with sesame oil (1 tsp), sugar (1 tsp), and white pepper (0.50 tsp).
Because the chicken is in super thin strips, they should not take long at all to cook! Once they have turned color, the soup is complete. The pale chicken and the light yellow threads of dried scallop should contrast beautifully against the dark broth. If the broth is not dark enough, you can mix in a bit more dark soy sauce.
Taste to adjust for flavor (careful, it's hot!) and transfer to a serving bowl. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use fresh scallops instead?
The main flavor of this soup is based on dried scallop, so if you omit dried scallop, it might still be tasty, but it won't be this Dried Scallop and Chicken Soup.
If you're having trouble sourcing dried scallops or don't have any Asian markets nearby, check online!
If you don't prefer the taste of dried scallops, you might want to try a different soup recipe. Fresh scallops would be a great addition to Winter Melon Seafood Soup.
How long do dried scallops last?
Our family doesn't really keep track because the dried scallops keep so well in an airtight container in the freezer. To be safe, you can check for expiration dates on your package (if it comes with an expiration date) and keep an eye out for changes in color, smell, or texture.
Why do you use chicken breast? Isn't chicken thigh more flavorful?
Chicken breast is a bit better for this soup for two reasons. First, we want that white meat contrast against dark broth. Also, chicken thigh is much fattier, and would result in a much greasier pot of soup. It's much easier to control the oil by using lean chicken breast and cooking oil.
What other ingredients can I add to this soup?
Because it's meant to be reminiscent of Shark Fin Soup, pale or translucent, thread-like ingredients would be the most attractive. For a super classy soup, you can add crab meat. Thin vermicelli noodles are also a common addition.
How do I get the right soup consistency?
We make a massive amount of cornstarch slurry for this soup. In fact, being open-minded about making even more slurry may be the key to the perfect consistency.
Here are common cornstarch slurry pitfalls, and how to avoid them:
- Cornstarch clumps: make sure to mix the slurry thoroughly, and again right before adding it to your dish, because it settles quickly
- Uneven thickening: pour the slurry in slowly and constantly constantly stir to distribute it evenly
- Not effective when bringing heat back up: cornstarch slurry is always added on low heat, and then the dish is brought back up to heat. Thickened soups and sauces are always thicker at lower temperatures and thinner at higher temperatures, so keep that in mind as you're adding the slurry. Your dish will thicken back up when you transfer to a serving bowl and it starts to cool down.
How has this soup become the replacement for Shark Fin Soup?
It imitates the color, shapes, flavor and consistency of Shark Fin Soup, although I think that the flavor is actually improved here!
Shark Fin Soup is about color contrast. Light, translucent threads suspended in a dark, thick broth.
Shark Fin Soup displays the shark fin as chewy, gelatinous threads. We imitate that by chopping our ingredients into thin strips, or by choosing ingredients that are long and thin in nature.
This soup also mimics the umami, seafood-y vibe of Shark Fin Soup, but it's even better! Shark Fin Soup actually needs a ton of help because shark fin itself is tasteless. It's completely carried by the broth and by name recognition. On the other hand, dried scallops are intense nuggets of deep flavor and make a complex, delicious soup base!
Is this soup healthy?
Yes, it is! You can make sure that you make the healthiest version possible by choosing good quality ingredients, like the chicken and chicken broth, and quality dried scallops.
Reducing the amount of condiments and seasonings will affect the flavor of the dish. Instead, you can opt for low-sodium versions of soy sauce if necessary.
Restaurant or instant versions may not be as healthy when they include additives and preservatives, but because you're making this soup from scratch, you have full control over the ingredients.
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Made with love ❤️
We started Made With Lau to celebrate Cantonese culture and honor the legacy of our wonderful parents, Jenny and Chung Sun Lau.
Our hope is that these recipes and stories help you spread the joy, love, and nostalgia that I felt growing up.