3 Plus 1 (Series 4) - Fresh lily bulb and flower crab soup 3菜1汤 (系列4) - 鲜百合蟹肉羹

This recipe was from Episode 4 (11 Oct 2013) of Channel 8 Cook Show 3 Plus 1 Series 4. (Check out my other attempts at this link.) I love this episode very much because all the dishes looked so appealing and in fact, I've already attempted 2 recipes. This is the 3rd one.

I think the most attractive part about this soup is the soup base; it's slow-boiled using duck bones, chicken feet, chicken bones, ikan bilis and blended carrot. You can imagine how "potent" it is! But having said that, each ingredient used in the soup plays an important role in making the soup so delicious. The fresh lily bulb added crunch; the flower crab provided freshness (taste of the ocean); the wolfberries added sweetness and colour; the asparagus contributed to the crunch and colour as well; and the egg helped thicken the soup, enhanced the sweetness and created a nice visual touch.

The preparation was a little tedious because I had to buy half a roast duck and spend time retrieving the bones to prepare soup base; and extract flesh from flower crabs. But I think it's worth the effort. Hubby gave thumbs up as well.

 

Fresh lily bulb and flower crab soup

(adapted from Channel 8 Cook Show 3 Plus 1 Series 4, and iWeekly magazine)

Ingredients

Soup base

• 1/2 Roast duck, separate bones from meat (I use bones only for this soup and keep the meat for stir fry)
• 200g Chicken feet
• 300g Chicken bones
• 200g Ikan bilis, washed and drained
• 1 slice ginger
• 50g Red carrot, blended with a little water
• 3.5L Water

Steps

1. Blanch roast duck bone, chicken feet and chicken bones with hot water to get rid of smell and dirt.
2. Pour 3.5L of water into a deep pot, place roast duck bone, chicken feet, chicken bone, ikan bilis and ginger into the pot. Bring to boil on medium high heat, then simmer on low heat.
3. After 30 mins, add the blended red carrot into the broth, and continue simmering till soup is reduced by about half quantity. Strain. I managed to get about 1.7L of broth.
4. For the soup, I used 800ml and freeze the remaining in the freezer for other soup bases.

Soup

• 800ml Soup base
• 70g Fresh lily bulb
• 2 flower crab (about 80g each)
• 2 eggs
• 30g Asparagus (about 2 stalks)
• 10g Wolfberries, washed and soaked for 10 mins
• 10g Corn or potato starch

Steps

1. Peel the petals of the fresh lily bulb, wash and set aside.
2. Peel the fibrous skin of the asparagus, cut into tiny discs and set aside.
3. Steam flower crab for 10 minutes, let cool slightly and extract the flesh. Set aside.
4. Bring the 800ml of soup base to boil on medium heat, add lily bulb petals, asparagus, crab meat and wolfberries. Boil for 5 mins, make slurry with corn/potato starch and add to the soup (thickness of soup depends on individual), mixing thoroughly.
5. Beat the eggs and stir into the soup. Serve immediately.