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Thick Winter Melon Seafood Soup （冬瓜海鲜羹）


Everyone has probably heard of winter melon soup, which is cooked with red dates, shitake mushrooms, and chicken or pork hocks. It can turn into a bowl of deliciousness.

Have you ever tried winter melon Gēng羹? Or a thick winter melon soup? Soups can be referred to as tong 汤 or Gēng羹 in Chinese. In what way does Gēng vary from soup? The term "tong" is more broadly used to describe watery soup. The "thick" soup Gēng  is referring to has a thicker consistency.

I had my first taste of thick winter melon soup at a wedding banquet. Crab flesh and egg drops are cooked in a bowl of soup, which is thickened with cornstarch. So, I am going to copy it today.

In this recipe, I'm using chicken broth. You can use finely chopped lean pork. For this soup, I’m going to keep things simple. Additional ingredients, such as dried scallop and mushrooms, can be added to the soup. You can use fresh crab meat, which is much nicer, but I'm using frozen crab meat and fresh prawns.


One thing I enjoy about this soup is how strongly the shredded winter melon fragrance infuses the soup. You can use a knife to shred the winter melon, but I used a box grater with large holes in it. It is best to serve this soup hot. I hope you will enjoy this soup as much as I do.

 

INGREDIENTS

600G winter melon

1500ml chicken broth

150g frozen crab meats

100g prawns

50g glass noodles

2 eggs

Some salt to taste

Some sesame oil

Some chopped spring onion

 

Marinate (prawns)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper

1 tsp cornstarch

½ tbsp water

 

Starch slurry

1 ½ tbsp tapioca starch

50ml water

 


METHODS

1. Peel and wash the winter melon then shred it with box grater.

2. Dice the prawns into about 1cm pieces and marinate them for about 10 minutes.

3. Soak the glass noodles in room temp water for 7-10 mins until soft and pliable. Slightly cut it short.

4. Crack 2 eggs in a bowl, lightly beaten.

5. Bring the chicken broth to a boil. Pour in the shredded winter melon, bring it to a boil again then cook and simmer with lid cover for 20 minutes at low heat.

6. Add in prawns, crab meat and the grass noodles. Bring it to a boil and adjust the taste with salt. Pour in starch solution to thicken the soup. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs while stirring the soup slowly until the egg spread out into ribbons.

7. Drizzle some sesame oil and spread  with chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

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