The Spring Festival is here and I am going to teach you how to make the Chinese soup named Good Fortune so that you can usher in more wealth and prosperity when you enjoy this warm and cozy soup with your loved ones this Chinese New Year. This Chinese soup is called Fu Chuk Yue Yuen Sang Choy Tong in the Cantonese dialect and it translates to Bean Curd, Fish Ball and Veggie Soup.
“Fu” signifies wealth and prosperity, while “Yuen” signifies completion or perfection and sounds like the Chinese Yuan currency. The round shape of the fish balls signifies constant renewal and is ideal for Chinese New Year.
This rich savoury Chinese soup with a clear texture comes with evenly cooked softened veggies, chewy fish balls and soft beancurd sheets filled with rich fish paste that doesn’t taste so fishy, but has enough flavour and a soft crunchy texture to make this soup interesting.
It fits perfectly with any Reunion Dinner combination which typically has yee sang, several different types of meat, fish, dumplings, fried rice and noodles. It can also be made on an ordinary day, especially if you are craving for a nutrients from both fish and vegetables, but don’t really want to spend too much time making soup! This recipe can be made using either chicken stock or anchovy stock and I am sharing both versions here with you. I hope you like it!
Ingredients
Fried Fu Chuk Fish Paste
- 2 pieces of Fu Chuk or Bean Curd sheets – the hard type
- 1 fist full of Fatt Choy or Black Moss
- 300g of Fish Paste
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 cup of refined cooking oil
- 1 stalk of spring onions – finely chopped
Chicken Soup Stock
- 5 chicken carcass bones
- 1 whole piece of ginger – smashed
- 2 big onions – chopped
- 12 cups of water
Anchovy Soup Stock
- 100g anchovies, washed and cleaned.
- 1 clove of garlic – chopped
- 1 tsp of oil
- 12 cups of water
Others
- 8 pieces of salad lettuce leaves
- 20 fish balls
Instructions
Preparation
- Lightly soak the fatt choy or black moss in an individual bowl of purified water for 5 mins. Remove water when it is soft because it can disintegrate when it is soaked too long.
- Finely chop the stalk of spring onions and the 2 regular onions. Set aside.
- Lightly pat the Fu Chuk or Bean Curd sheets with a slightly damp cloth to remove any traces of dust.
- If you are making chicken soup stock, clean the chicken carcass bones and drain the water away. Put the chicken carcass bones in a big bowl. Next, smash the ginger with pestle and mortar and put it in a separate bowl.
- If you are making anchovy soup stock, clean the anchovies and put them in a bowl. Next, chop up 1 clove of garlic and put that aside, then prepare 1 tbsp of oil, and prepare to fry it all in a pan.
- Put 12 cups of water to in a pot.
Make Chicken Stock Based Soup
- Add 12 cups of water to a pot and put the pot of water on the stove, then add in the chicken carcass bones, smashed ginger and chopped onions into the water. Boil for 2 hours over a small fire. If you use a pressure cooker, it should take half and hour.
- Sieve out the chicken carcass bones and put them aside. Carefully scoop the layer of oil on top away with a spoon if you are health conscious.
Chicken Soup Stock that’s been sieved to remove excess oil!
Or Make Anchovy Stock Based Soup
- Heat up a frying pan and add one teaspoon of oil. As the oil heats, throw in the chopped garlic. Next throw in the anchovies and fry for 3 mins then remove it from the frying pan.
- Add 12 cups of water into the pot and put in chopped onions and fried garlicky anchovies. Let it boil for 20 minutes then remove it from the stove. Sieve and keep aside.
Make Fried Fish Paste Fu Chuk
- In a bowl, combine fish paste, chopped spring onions, fatt choy, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with a silicone spatula spoon.
- Unfold the fu chuk on a clean dry surface and spread the mix evenly onto half of the fu chuk sheet. Once complete, fold the other half over and pat it down.
- Cut the fu chuk that’s now filled with fish mixed paste into small squares.
- In a wok full of hot oil, place the small fu chuk squares in the oil piece by piece and deep fry until it is golden brown and crispy.
Frying the Fu Chuk Fish Paste Squares - Once it is fried, use a stainless steel food tong to pick up the fried pieces and place it on a napkin that is on top of a flat plate. This is so that the paper napkin can help absorb the oil.
Assembling the Chinese Soup
Assembling the soup takes less than a minute!
- Boil the soup stock in a big pot, add the fish balls and fried fu chuk squares. Boil for 2 minutes then add in the 8 pieces of salad lettuce leaves, then turn off the stove.
- Serve in a nice pot with a ladle or distribute them nicely in small porcelain serving bowls. Enjoy!
For a quick glance through of this recipe, just view my video below:
Extra tips
- To make clear chicken soup stock, clean the chicken carcass bones by boiling it for a few seconds, then throw away the liquid. Next, wash it under cold water so that you remove the possibility of chicken bits floating to the top of your soup.
- Put the chicken soup stock in the fridge to cool so that the oil coagulate at the top. That makes it easier to remove the oil at the top.
- Freeze chicken stock for future use in small containers.
Will you be making this Chinese soup at home for Chinese New Year or that extra special occasion? Don’t forget to tag your pictures with #butterkicap and tell us how you liked it!
