China · Chinese
Bamboo-fungus and fish-ball soup
The soup course of the three-head banquet. The fish balls are the point: the fish is minced, then beaten with egg white, chopped scallion, wine and salt — **always in one direction** — before a little starch is worked in until the mixture turns sticky, which is what makes the balls springy. The bamboo fungus is soaked in lightly salted water and has its closed cap end cut off, or it tastes odd. Both go into a clear broth and are poached in at a rolling boil: clear soup, springy balls, mushroom fragrance. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.
Public reference · Home adaptation The banquet has only one soup, placed after the cold starters and before the stir-fries, and its job is to clear the palate. Eight cold dishes in, most of them oily, this soup rinses the mouth clean so the stir-fried shrimp and the Huaiyang eel can actually be tasted. The bamboo fungus is a Huaiyang move: it has fragrance but no real savouriness, so in a clear broth it contributes aroma and nothing else is needed. All the craft is in the beating. A Yangzhou cook makes fish balls the same way as lion's-head meatballs: **beat the fish paste with ginger-and-scallion water in one direction to work water into the fibres**, then add a little starch to build the stickiness that gives the balls their bounce. Change direction and the paste 'blooms' and the balls break apart. The 2018 group-standard report lists the soup by name only, so **this technique comes from a public home recipe with no correspondence to the banquet's own kitchen method**; it is not a historical original. **The seat list records only the dish name, not the method; this version's technique comes from public home recipes on xiachufang, notably Hand-beaten fish balls and Bamboo fungus chicken soup, and has no correspondence to the actual three-head-banquet kitchen method.** It is not a historical original or a house secret. The source fish balls use **sole**; this version uses the more readily available **sea bass or grass carp** and says so. The source bamboo-fungus soup is a chicken soup; this version is a fish-ball clear soup, built on **prepared unsalted chicken broth** and finished with **rendered lard**, which under this project's convention counts a dish as meat. **Quantities, beating time and poaching time are editorial for 4 servings and have not been kitchen-tested.** Soaking and beating are preparatory and not counted in the cooking time. **Fish is a common allergen, and the bamboo fungus and egg white must also be declared on the banquet sheet**; the mushroom used is cultivated, not wild. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims from any source are adopted. **Contains fish (sea bass or grass carp, a common allergen),** egg (egg white) and wheat (cooking wine); **contains rendered lard, so under this project's convention this is a meat dish, not vegetarian.** Broth and dried mushrooms may carry soy or other ingredients, so check labels. **The bamboo fungus must be cultivated product from a proper supply chain; do not use self-gathered wild mushrooms** — misidentification of wild fungi causes poisoning and this version does not support it. Fish must be prepared on boards and utensils separate from fish-free dishes. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. 下厨房：手打鱼丸（鲜嫩弹牙） — The method itself: the fish is cut into small pieces and minced or blended; wine, egg or egg white, chopped scallion and salt are added and beaten hard clockwise (about 30 seconds more in a blender); starch and a little flour are added but not too much, since too much flour takes away the bounce and leaves a floury taste, and the paste is beaten clockwise for about a minute more — this is the secret of the bounce; the balls are scooped in one at a time into hot water. This version changes the fish from sole to sea bass or grass carp. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/100392662/ 下厨房：竹荪土鸡汤 — The method itself: chicken goes into cold water, and once it boils for a minute or two is lifted out and rinsed in cold water; a clay pot is filled with the chicken, water added in one go, with ginger and wine, brought to the boil then simmered; dried bamboo fungus should be soaked in lightly salted water before cooking and **have its closed cap end cut off, or it tastes strange**; simmer about an hour. This version replaces the chicken broth with prepared unsalted broth and adds the poached fish balls. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/100399934/ 扬州晚报美食团：扬州发布“三头宴”团体标准（搜狐，2018-01-18） — Seat evidence: the single soup is bamboo-fungus fish-ball soup, placed after the eight cold starters and before the two stir-fries. The report gives dish names and groupings only, with no methods. https://www.sohu.com/a/217424559_740963 AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.
Ingredients
- sea bass or grass carp fillet, skinned and deboned, minced400 g
- egg white30 g
- scallions, finely chopped30 g
- cooking wine15 ml
- starch, sparingly20 g
- dried bamboo fungus, soaked in lightly salted water, cap end trimmed30 g
- lightly salted water for soaking the fungus500 ml
- unsalted chicken broth1500 ml
- rendered lard, added at the end10 g
- salt5 g
- white pepper powder1 g
Directions
- 1
Soak the dried bamboo fungus in lightly salted water until fully expanded (about 2–4 hours), and **cut off the closed cap end once soaked** — leaving it on gives a strange taste. After trimming, rinse clean, squeeze dry and cut into lengths of about 3 cm. Soaking time is not counted in the cooking time.
- 2
For the fish balls: cut the fish into small pieces and mince (or blitz), then add wine, egg white, chopped scallion and salt. **Now beat hard in one direction, clockwise**, working water into the fibres until the paste turns sticky and stringy. Do not change direction — reverse it and the paste blooms and the balls will break.
- 3
Add the starch and a little flour, **not much** — too much and the balls lose their bounce and taste of flour. Keep beating clockwise for about a minute, until the paste clings to the spoon without sliding off.
- 4
Bring a pan of water to just under a boil (about 90°C) and drop the balls in a spoonful at a time. **Do not let it roll**, or the surface of the fresh balls is torn and the shape is lost. Once they are all in, turn to medium heat and **add cold water twice** (when the water nears a boil, add half a bowl of cold, and repeat) so the balls cook evenly through without toughening.
- 5
The balls are done when they all float and turn white. Lift them out, rinse the starch off the surface in warm water and drain. This **poaches the balls rather than boiling them** — boil them and they fall apart.
- 6
In a separate pot bring the unsalted chicken broth to the boil, add the bamboo fungus and cook 3 minutes to release its aroma, and season with salt and white pepper. Slide the poached balls gently into the soup, **nudging them with the spoon rather than stirring**, and cook until the soup returns to a light simmer.
- 7
Stir in a spoonful of rendered lard just before serving — it is the Huaiyang move for lifting a clear soup and leaves a bright film on the surface — and finish with chopped scallion and white pepper. The soup should be **clear, not cloudy**, so never stir it hard; once the balls go in, leave them to cook on their own.
Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.