Red Braised Shark Fin
This classic traditional Chaoshan dish is prepared with old hen, ham, and other supporting ingredients, slow-stewed for 6 hours across three distinct heat stages. The finished shark fin strands are soft and silky, with a rich, fragrant aroma.
Ingredients
cleaned fin needles (requires 2-3 days of soaking)
1000g
ginger (some for blanching, some for braising)
50g
cleaned old hen (split in half and laid over the fin)
1250g
cilantro (some used as cilantro roots, some for garnish)
50g
pork belly (chopped and stir-fried for braising)
750g
silver needle vegetables (blanched as fin accompaniment)
100g
spare ribs (chopped and stir-fried for braising)
500g
shredded ham (some sprinkled over the bowl, some added to the silver needle soup)
25g
pig trotters (chopped and stir-fried for braising)
750g
ham hock (for braising)
50g
pork skin (stir-fried for braising)
250g
sesame oil (added at the end)
10g
Shaoxing wine (some for blanching, some for stir-frying)
100g
white pepper (added at the end)
1g
caramel color (for coloring)
15g
Zhejiang vinegar (for dipping)
2 small dishes
fine salt (some for blanching, some for braising)
20g
superior broth (for the silver needle fin accompaniment soup)
1000g
light soy sauce (some for braising, some for silver needle soup)
5g
secondary broth (for braising)
3000g
scallions (some for blanching, some for braising)
50g
MSG (some for braising, some for silver needle soup)
10g
Instructions
1
Preparing the braising pot
Place bamboo chopsticks at the bottom of a clay pot, then add a bamboo mat as the base.
2
Preconditioning the fin needles
Bring 2500 g of water to a boil in a pot, add 50 g Shaoxing wine, 10 g fine salt, 20 g ginger, and 25 g scallions. Add the fin needles and blanch together for 5 minutes. Discard the ginger and scallions, then remove the fins and place them into the braising pot.
3
Braising the supporting ingredients
Chop the pig trotters, pork belly, and spare ribs, then stir-fry them with the pork skin until fragrant. Splash with 50 g Shaoxing wine, add the secondary broth, 10 g fine salt, and the caramel color, then pour this into the fin pot. Add 25 g ginger, 25 g scallions, cilantro roots, and ham hock. Cover and braise over high heat on a charcoal stove for 3 hours. Remove the pig trotters, pork belly, pork skin, spare ribs, ham hock, ginger, scallions, and cilantro roots. Split the cleaned old hen in half and lay the pieces over the fin. Switch to medium heat and braise for 1.5 hours, then reduce to low heat and braise for another 1.5 hours.
4
Plating
Remove the old hen. Pour the fin together with its soup into a pot, add 7.5 g MSG, sesame oil, and white pepper, then transfer into a serving bowl. Use chopsticks to arrange thick fin needles over the top of the bowl and sprinkle with 15 g shredded ham. Separately, blanch the silver needle vegetables in boiling water and place them in a soup bowl. Add soy sauce, 2.5 g MSG, 10 g shredded ham, and 1000 g superior broth to serve as the fin accompaniment. Serve with 2 dishes of cilantro and 2 small dishes of Zhejiang vinegar on the side.
5
Heat control tips
For Chaoshan-style red-braised shark fin, the pure braising time should be 6 hours, divided into three stages: the first 3 hours over high heat because the fin collagen is not yet concentrated; the middle 1.5 hours over medium heat because the fin begins to release its collagen; and the final 1.5 hours at an even lower temperature because the fin collagen is plentiful and the liquid is approaching reduction — keep the heat at a barely simmering state, neither fully rolling nor fully still.
6
Soaking tips
The soaking process for shark fin is as follows: first, snip off 3 mm of the fin tail with scissors, then soak in clear water for 6 hours. After that, simmer gently in boiling water until the sand on the fin skin can be washed out. Pour the fin along with its water into a basin and let it cool until it can be handled by hand, then scrape it clean with a small knife. Next, simmer the fin gently in boiling water again until the bones can be removed, then lift the fin out and place it in clear water to soak. Strip away the hard cartilage and the smelly flesh from the fin tips. Blanch the fin once more in boiling water, then lift it into a basin, rinse to cool, and soak in clear water. The next morning, blanch the fin in boiling water again, rinse to cool, and soak again. In the evening, blanch it again, rinse, and soak. The entire soaking process requires 2 to 3 days of work.
7
Final preparation
Before the final braising, the fin must go through one more "lifting and refreshing" step — blanch the fin briefly again in boiling water (the "lifting"), then simmer it briefly with a small amount of boiling water together with Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, ginger, and scallions (the "refreshing").
