Tilapia Soup with Mushrooms

Purpose:

To detoxify the liver and clear vision.

Material:

Tilapia （鲫鱼）                                      500 g

Dried small mushrooms （香菇）             7

Fresh ginger （姜）                                 10 g   

Green onion （葱）                                 one plant (about 20 g)
Salt                                                       some

Note:

Use whole tilapia - better freshly killed and cleaned; cut into 3-4 segments: head, tail, and 1-2 central segments.  Fresh tilapia can be purchased from Chinese grocery stores.  Fresh water fish sometimes have some remaining muddy smell after cooking.  Here is a way to remove that smell: after clean and cutting, soak the fish in water, add about one table spoon of cooking vinegar and one tea spoon of white pepper powder, and then mix even.  Let sit for about 15 minutes, and the fish can be taken out for cooking.  Whole dried mushrooms are available from many Asian supermarkets.  Small dried mushrooms have a diameter of about 2-3 cm.  You can reduce the number of mushrooms if you use larger ones. 
  
Procedure:

a.     Rinse clean mushrooms, ginger, and green onion.  Soak mushrooms in water; when soft, remove and discard the stems.  Skin ginger and cut to slices.  Clean green onion and cut to 1-2 inch segments.  Rinse clean the fish and cut to 3-4 segments.

b.     Cook the tilapia using a water bath: boil water with high heat in a large pot with a small metal rack.  Add fish, mushroom, ginger, and green onion to an enamel bowl (or a stainless steel bowl) of appropriate size, then fill water to about 3 cm over the ingredients.  The water in the pot should be high enough so that the top surface of water in pot covers about 2/3 height of the bowl. 

c.     Put the bowl into the pot when water (in the pot) is boiling.  Continue with high heat for 15 minutes. 

d.     Open the cover and add some some salt to taste.  Continue to boil for 5 min.  Ready to serve.

        

Note：  The reason for cooking with a water bath is not to overcook tilapia.  An enamel bowl or a stainless steel bowl can conduct heat better than a ceramic or glass one.  A bowl of appropriate size means that it should be large enough to contain all the ingredients and small enough to sit on the metal rack, fit in the pot, and leave room under the cover for steam to come in.  

Comment:

This is a delicious soup that is simple and quick to prepare.  After cooking, the soup has a clear amber color and distinct mushroom aroma.  The tilapia has a delicate texture and tastes great.  If you soak the fish in vingegar and pepper water before cooking, the soup will also have a tint of pepper flavor which is quite enjoyable.  The soup tastes best right after cooking.  Warm up with microwave before serving if you need to put it away in a refrigerator.  Fish soup always tastes better when it is hot. 

Dried mushroom （香菇）

Green onion （葱）

Tilapia （鲫鱼）