Classic Hong Kong Delicacies

by: Kitty (Cai Jieyi) Choi

Hong Kong China: Hai Bin Tu Shu Gong Si 2007, $68.00, Paperback
ISBN: 978-988-202-462-5

Reviewed by: Jacqueline M. Newman
Spring Volume: 2010 Issue: 17(1) page(s): 23

This book has fifty-one recipes in three chapters titled: Old-time Restaurant Classics, Retro Home-style Cooking, and The Revival of Classics. Every one has a full-page color photograph of its completed dish, a few tips in its preparation. The few we made good very taste.

One Old-time Favorite in Shek Tong Tsui is Stir-fried Pigeons and Chicken Livers. Interestingly, it is also known as Swallows and Lingzhi, naming it for the pigeon and cloud ear fungus within. We made it with chicken and it flew off people’s plates. In the Retro Home Cooking chapter, try the Stuffed Boneless Chicken Wings. The suggestion on its pages is to use eel instead of shrimp; might do that next time around. The Revival of Classics chapter ends its sixteen offerings with Stir-fried White Eel with Poached Egg White Souffle. Once had a turtle dish almost identical, the turtle substituting for t the eel. Wish we knew the technique taught before reading it here.

Stir-fried White Eel with Egg White Souffle
Ingredients:
3/4 pound white eel, boned and butterflied
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon thin soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon oil
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon sweet soy bean paste
1 Tablespoon broad bean paste
1/4 cup chopped red and green peppers
1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
10 egg whites
1 teaspoon plus 1 Tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons plus 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Preparation:
1. Marinate eel with oyster sauce, the teaspoon of thin soy sauce, salt, sugar, cooked oil, the tablespoon of cornstarch and one teaspoon of water for fifteen minutes.
2. Heat the vegetable oil and stir-fry the garlic, ginger, soy bean, and the broad bean paste, and when fragrant, add the peppers and return the eel and stir-fry for two minutes or until the eel is cooked.
3. Add the tablespoon of thin soy, sugar, chicken powder, and the teaspoon of cornstarch, stir well, and transfer to a pre-heated serving plate.
4. Beat the egg whites until foamy and stiff, and fold in the flour and the rest of the cornstarch. Put this into boiling stock or water and cook until done (set), then place this cooked egg white around the prepared eel, and serve.

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