This dainty and marvellously delicious stir fry, the Osmanthus Egg Shark Fin 桂花翅, is a dish fit for an emperor! Or, rather fit for an Empress as this dish was originally created as a tribute to the redoubtable Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后, she who ruled China from behind an embroidered screen for five decades from 1861 until her death in 1908.
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| Empress Dowager Cixi (Painting by Hubert Vos, 1905) |
The Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后 rose to power on the cusp of the 20th century and was the most powerful empress in Chinese history. Quite looks like the ultimate dragon lady, eh? Check out those nails!!!
Fun fact: Wearing the long fingernail guards like this meant that the wearer was of high station enough that they did not have to use their hands, having servants to do all for them.
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| Osmanthus flower (photo by Juni) |
History tells us that the Empress loved the sweet scented osmanthus flower 桂花, ordering the Summer Palace 頤和園 planted full of blossoming osmanthus trees. A Qing dynasty minister, knowing of this preference, ordered his chef to imitate the shape and color of the tiny golden osmanthus flowers in extravagant dishes as a tribute to the Empress.
One such dish created is this masterful Osmanthus Egg Shark Fin 桂花翅, a light airy dish of delightful and delicious contrasts: osmanthus shaped yellow egg petals dispersed among tangled threads of gleaming golden shark fin, topped with a sprinkle of umami dense jinhua ham.
Mind you now, that shark fin 魚翅 is very expensive and traditionally reserved only for the most important celebrations of a Chinese person's life. As it should be.
For our Osmanthus Egg Shark Fin stir fry we used imitation shark fin 仿魚翅 (pictured above) so that we could make a lot and thus feast like emperors and empresses of old. The texture of imitation shark fin is quite close to the real texture.
Find the imitation shark fin in asian grocery stores in the frozen sections. If you cannot find the imitation shark fin you can substitute with glass noodles 粉絲.
The osmanthus flowers in the dish are achieved by using eggs. This dish uses a lot of eggs. If you want the 'flowers' to be even more golden substitute some yolks for whole eggs. We like to use eggs from Japan, they are delicious!
Pssst: This is a great dish to make when you got a lot of egg yolks leftover from using egg white intensive treats like macarons.
As with any dish made to impress an Empress, this Osmanthus Egg Shark Fin is stuffed with treasures. Well, treasures of the Chinese eating kind, anyways. First we present the Chinese ingredient dried scallop!
Dried scallops 乾瑤柱, also known as conpoy, 江瑤柱 or 乾貝, are packed with umami and have a chewy texture. They are expensive but so worth it. And, as they are dried, they keep forever. Look for these at specialty dried seafood stores or at your local wet market.
To prepare for use soak in room temp water until rehydrated.
Another ingredient is the Jin hua Ham 金華火腿, also a treasure of Chinese cuisine. This famous dry cured ham is produced in Zhejiang province, the province of my 媽媽 as well as many classic Chinese food products.
Jin hua ham is packed with savory umami flavor so a little goes a long way. To prepare the ham is parboiled to remove excess saltiness and then steamed.
As both these two ‘treasure’ ingredients pack big flavor punches we prepare them so that they will spread out equally through the dish. Spread through the shark fin they provide tantalizing pops of flavor and texture.
For the rehydrated dried scallop that means shredding by hand. For the Jinhua ham that means slicing to thin matchsticks. Both ingredients are then pan fried over low heat until dry. This step allows the final stir fry to achieve a distinctive airy light texture.
The last ingredient is mung bean sprouts. These fresh sprouts add a pleasing crunch to the dish as well as a beautiful jade white accent.
The sprouts are prepared beforehand with a brief stir fry to release the juices. This step is again so that the final stir fry can achieve dryness.
Side note: As I was researching for this post I discovered that one of the Empress Dowager’s favorite dishes was Bean Sprouts Stuffed with Ham 豆芽塞肉. This dish is made with sprouts that had been hollowed with a copper wire, stuffed with ham and then steamed. Isn't that cray cray? I mean look at those sprouts, they're so thin! It took 10 cooks from the imperial kitchen all day to prepare. Can you even imagine such decadence?!
Onto the imitation shark fin. First we flavor the shark fin by cooking it in stock and the reserved scallop soaking water. Cook, stirring and flipping, until the fins have soaked in all that goodness, until all the liquid is absorbed…yum.
As you can see it’s important for this dish that at each step the liquid is cooked off to achieve the final light airy texture. Lots of little steps to make this dish, but hey this is a dish for an Empress, right?
We prepare our wok for the next step, making osmanthus eggs. The technique is simple. Add oil to hot wok, add eggs, scramble the eggs. Once scrambled use the back of a ladle to press and separate as the eggs until small flower like egg bits are formed. Cool, right?
Now for the final stir fry where everything is combined. Turn the heat to high. To the eggs we add a splash of oil and then the shark fins, mung bean sprouts, dried scallop and jinhua ham. Stir and flip vigorously to combine. Once everything is just clinging together the dish is done.
Plate it up and serve hot and gorgeous. OMG it’s so yummilicious! We wolfed this baby down, it was just so damn good, each and every gorgeous mouthful packed with the most luscious flavor and texture, a dish really fit for an Empress!
Why not try out a bit of the life of an Empress for yourself!
Osmanthus Egg Shark Fin Recipe
桂花翅
Soak time: 30 mins Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 40 mins
Ingredients:
- 17 oz imitation shark fin 仿魚翅, 500g
- 8 tbsp oil
- 1/2 cup dried scallop 乾瑤柱
- 2 oz Jinhua ham 金華火腿, 50g
- 14 oz mung bean sprouts 綠豆芽, 400g
- 3 tbsp hot water
- 1 cup chicken stock, 250 ml
- 4 egg plus 5 yolks
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
Prepare the dried scallops: Soak the scallops in room temperature water to cover until rehydrated, about 30 mins. Pour out water, reserving the soaking water, and then use fingers to separate the scallop strands. Pan fry the strands over low heat until quite dry.
Prepare the Jinhua ham: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Parboil Jinhua ham for 30 secs to remove saltiness and then steam for 20 mins. When cool enough to handle slice ham into 1/2 inch matchsticks. Separate out 1/5 of the matchsticks and mince. Pan fry all over low heat til dry.
Prepare the sprouts: Heat wok over medium heat. When hot add 1 tbsp oil then add mung bean sprouts. Give it a quick stir and then 3 tbsp hot water. Stir fry 10-20 secs more until the sprouts are limp. Pour in strainer to strain any liquid away.
Prepare the shark fin: Defrost the shark fin. Heat the wok over medium heat. When hot add 2 tbsp oil, then the shark fin. Quickly stir a few times to spread the oil. Add stock and reserved scallop soaking water. Keep stirring and flipping until the shark fins soak up liquid and become dryish. Strain away any remaining liquid.
Prepare the eggs: Whisk eggs and yolks together. Add 3/4 tsp salt. Clean wok and heat over medium heat. When hot add 3 tbsp oil. When oil is hot turn to medium low heat and add all the eggs. Stir and flip until the egg scrambles. Turn heat to low, then use the back of a ladle to press and separate the eggs to bits for about 5 mins. Try to get the egg bits as small as possible.
Final stir fry: Turn heat to high. To the eggs bits add 2 tbsp oil, then the shark fin, mung bean sprouts, dried scallops and the Jinhua ham matchsticks. Stir fry vigorously over until dry and everything is just slightly clinging to each other. Add salt to taste.
Scoop out onto serving plate and sprinkle with minced Jinhua ham. Enjoy!
Egg-licious Stir Frys at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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