Top | Ken Hom’s Chinese Kitchen

Prawn Dumpling Soup

(recipe, Ken Hom)


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Ingredients

  1. 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de-veined
  2. 1 oz. pork fat or very fatty boneless pork
  3. 1 egg white
  4. 1 tsp. salt
  5. ¼ tsp. freshly ground white pepper
  6. 2 tsp. finely chopped scallions
  7. 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
  8. 8 oz. spinach
  9. 3¾ cups chicken stock
  10. 2 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
  11. 1 tsp. salt
  12. 1 tsp. sesame oil

Steps

  1. Combine the shrimp, pork fat, egg white, salt, pepper, scallions, and ginger in a food processor, and process the mixture until you have a smooth paste. If you are using an electric blender, pulse by turning the blender on and off until the mixture is well combined; otherwise the paste will turn out rubbery.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a simmering point. Take spoonfuls of the prawn paste and form it into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Poach the balls in the boiling water until they float to the top. (This should take about 3 to 4 minutes.) Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.
  3. Remove the stems of the spinach and wash the leaves well.
  4. In a large pot, bring the chicken stock to a simmer. Add the rice wine or sherry and salt and simmer for 2 minutes. Then add the spinach and prawn dumplings and continue to simmer for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the sesame oil. Turn the soup into a large bowl or soup tureen and serve at once.

Note

Culinate editor's notes: This recipe makes quite a large quantity of dumplings for a comparatively scanty amount of broth. Use 1½ or even 2 quarts of chicken broth, if you like. To save time, you can poach the dumplings directly in the broth; the resulting liquid won't be as clear, but it's just as delicious. You can also save time by using a 10-ounce package of frozen spinach in place of the fresh.