Braised Soft-Shell Turtle with Jinhua Ham
After the soft-shelled turtle is butchered and prepped, stew it together with ham and winter bamboo shoots. The soup is savory and delicious, and the meat is tender and falling apart.
Ingredients
Soft-shell turtle (slaughtered, bled dry, gutted, dark outer membrane removed, head and claws cut off)
1
Jinhua ham (cut into thick slices)
100 g
Winter bamboo shoots (cut into thick slices)
100 g
Scallion (washed, tied into a knot)
1
Ginger (washed, lightly crushed)
2 slices
Fine salt
1.5 g
MSG
1 g
Shaoxing wine
Instructions
1
Prepare the soft-shell turtle
Slaughter the soft-shell turtle and drain all blood. Use a knife to make a cross-shaped incision on the abdomen, remove the internal organs and wash clean. Place the soft-shell turtle in a pot of boiling water and blanch for about 1 minute, then remove and transfer to cold water. Scrape off the dark outer membrane from the back, skirt edge, and abdomen of the turtle, then rinse thoroughly in clean water. Cut off the head and claw bones, wash again and set aside.
2
Prepare auxiliary ingredients
Wash the ginger and scallion separately. Cut the Jinhua ham and winter bamboo shoots into thick slices separately. Tie the scallion into a knot, lightly crush the ginger.
3
Braise
Take a large earthenware pot, add the prepared soft-shell turtle, winter bamboo shoots, and Jinhua ham. Fill with clean water, add Shaoxing wine, salt, ginger, and scallion. Cover the pot tightly, bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer until the meat is tender. Add MSG, remove the scallion and ginger, then turn off the heat and serve on a tray.
