Scallop Custard

Mixed Meats and/or Seafoods

Scallop Custard
Ingredients:
1/4 pound sea scallops
I small onion, peeled
1 small chicken, about a pound and a half, cut in quarters
1 to 2 pound duck, cut in quarters
10 large Chinese black mushrooms, soaked in one cup warm water
1 pound peeled bamboo shoots, sliced
½ pound bean sprouts, tails removed
1 pig’s backbone, washed clean
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 Tablespoons peeled and thinly sliced fresh ginger
1 scallion, knotted
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 to 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ginger juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten well
Preparation:
1. Soak scallops in cold water for twenty minutes, then drain and dry them with paper towels before adding two cups of cold water, and putting them in a heat-proof bowl with the ginger, onion, and wine. Steam this for one hour, then remove the onion and ginger and set aside the liquid and reserve it.
2. Tear the scallops apart into thin strips and put them in a clean pot.
3. Add eight cups of water, the chicken and duck pieces, the soaked mushrooms and their soaking water, the pig bones, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and wine, and boil for a few minutes, skim anything on the surface, reduce the heat, and simmer for one and a half hours before cooling the meat and tearing it into thin strips 3. Next, strain the liquid through several layers of fine gauze or cheese cloth, bring it to the boil, add the cornstarch, ginger juice, scallop, and chicken and duck pieces, discarding any skin and bones. Add all other ingredients and the cornstarch and bring to a simmer reducing the liquid to about one cup. Thicken with the cornstarch, then cool and let it set before serving.

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