Chinese Milky Fish Soup (奶白鱼汤)
Milky fish soup is a famous soup for postpartum recovery in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and it’s a soup I frequently make when recovering from a cold. Made with just a few ingredients, the soup is comforting and nourishing. My recipe explains all the key points to get a milky white soup without actually using any cream or milk.
Ingredients
- 2 whole (about 1 lb) sea carp (or 1 whole branzino) (*Footnote 1)
- 6 cups boiling water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 thumb ginger , sliced
- 3 scallions , halved crosswise, green part thinly sliced
- 1 block firm tofu , cut into bite sized pieces.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper (*Optional) (*Footnote 2)
Instructions
- When you purchase the fish, ask the fishmonger to gut and scale the fish. Before cooking, check to see if the fish is fully scaled by running your fingers from the tail of the fish to the head. Use kitchen shears to scale further if needed. Wash the fish thoroughly with cold tap water and drain. Score the fish with 1” space in between cuts. Dry the fish very thoroughly with paper towels.
- Boil 6 cups of water, then reduce to low heat to keep it hot.
- Add oil into a wok and heat over medium-high heat until smoking. Lower the fish carefully into the wok. Let cook without moving until the bottom is brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the fish and add the ginger and scallion whites into the oil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the bottom of the fish is browned.
- Swirl in the Shaoxing wine along the side of the wok to deglaze. Use a wok spatula to detach the fish from the wok. Pour in the boiling water carefully down the side of the wok (*Footnote 3).
- Cook over high heat until boiling, then turn to medium-high heat to maintain a rolling boil. Cook covered for 10 minutes. Add tofu and salt. Keep cooking for another 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Add white pepper if using. Adjust seasoning with more salt if needed. Garnish with scallion greens. Serve hot.
Notes
- In China, this dish traditionally uses white carp, which is a type of river carp that’s small and very nutritious. The most similar fish I could find in my Chinatown was sea carp, which has a similar size. But if you cannot find the specific type of carp, you can use a mild white fish such as branzino to cook the soup.
- White pepper brightens up the soup and is traditionally used in it. However, the soup will taste more pure and fragrant without white pepper. You can transfer the soup to a small bowl and add a very small pinch of white pepper to see if you like the taste, before adding more.
- The wok will be very hot and will produce a lot of steam as soon as the water hits the wok. Be very careful to avoid burning your hands when pouring in the water. This step is important to emulsify the fat so the soup turns white.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 112kcal, Carbohydrates: 2.2g, Protein: 7.3g, Fat: 8.5g, Saturated Fat: 1.7g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Sodium: 349mg, Potassium: 39mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 1.2g, Calcium: 60mg, Iron: 1mg