Tofu Soup with Shrimps

Purpose:

To nourish the five zhang organs: heart, lungs, spleen, liver, and kidney, in particular to strengthen spleen and kidney. To enhance the yang qi of the body.

Material:

Shrimp (peeled and deveined)                      300 g

Tofu                                                           1 box (19 oz)

Dried whole mushroom                                3     

Corn starch                                                 10 g 

Soy sauce                                                   5 g (1/2 tbs)

Cooking oil                                                 10 g (1 tbs) 

Shredded ginger                                          3 g

Green onion                                                5 g

White pepper powder                                             some          

Note:

Fresh shrimps are the best.  If not available, frozen but fresh shrimps are also good.  I prefer to use frozen raw whole shrimps (with heads and shells) from Chinese grocery stores.  Of course, these shrimps need to be peeled and deveined.  Frozen raw shrimps (beheaded and deveined) from supermarkets are also alright to use; however, since these shrimps are treated somehow, they usually have a strange salty flavor if not desalted.  To desalt, I usual peel off the shells and soak the shrimps in a bowl of water for 1-2 hours and change water 2-3 times during soaking.  In Asian grocery stores, tofu with different firmness (soft, medium, and firm) are available.  The soft variety is the best for soups.

Procedure:

a.   Soaked dried mushrooms in water.  Cut tofu to 1.5 cm dices (about 1/2 inch).  Behead, peel and devein shrimps.  Desalt shrimps if necessary.  Cut shrimps to match the size of tofu dices.  Mix even shrimps with soy sauce and starch.  Let sit while preparing other ingredients.  Skin and cut fresh ginger to thin shreds.  Clean and cut green onion to small pieces.  When mushrooms are soaked through, remove the stems and cut mushrooms to small thin slices.

b.   Add cooking oil to a pot.  Slightly fry ginger and mushroom to bring out the aroma.  Add about 8 cups of water as well as tofu to the pot, and bring to boil.  Add shrimps and bring to boil.

c.   Add green onion, then add salt to taste.

d.   Sprinkle white pepper powder as you like.  Ready to serve.

        

Comment:

The amount of water for the soup can be more or less, depending on how much liquid you like to have.  However, the amounts of other ingredients (except salt and pepper) should be followed strictly because this delicious soup depends a lot on the proper ratios of the ingredients.  Shrimps taste better if they are not overcooked.  Since the size of shrimps in this recipe is quite small, they are cooked enough once the soup is boiling.  Green onion also does not take more than a minute to cook.  Over all, this soup does not take long to prepare and is a delightful treat for everyone at the table.