fbpx

HOME COOKING COMMUNITY AND MORE

Youtube Tiktok Facebook Instagram Telegram
Hee Pio Soup

Hee Pio Soup

Hee Pio soup or Kuah Hee Pio as some would call it, is to many is a “ceremonial” soup, whose plenitude of different ingredients and components symbolically signifies riches and abundance. Unlike other simpler soups like Pong Tauhu or Bakwan Kepiting which are deemed more “daily meal”- like, Hee Pio Soup is much more laborious to prepare as everything is usually made from scratch. Of course one could decide to be “tak kuasa” and buy readily available fish balls, pork balls and prawn balls from the supermarkets but as every other baba or nyonya would put forth staunchly, “nothing beats those made by the very hands of my own grandmother”. I won’t disgree on this for Hee Pio Soup as the commercially available ones simply have too much starch added as a binding agent and often not enough meat ratio. When the balls are made at home, we can control the amount of starch added to make the natural sweetness from the meats come through more easily.

Ingredients

2 whole fish maw (I’d used hee pio ikan belut)
1.5 to 2 litres water
1 kg pork ribs
1/2 head of chinese cabbage, cut into large chunks
half a large carrot, peeled and cut into disks the shape of flowers/stars or crosses if desired
salt to taste
pepper

Bring water to boil in a large pot.
Add pork ribs and bring to a boil again for 10 min.
Skim off any impurities and scum from the surface.
Lower flame to medium low and cover with lid. Simmer for 45 min.
Meanwhile, soak fish maw in warm water until soften. Squeeze out as much water as possible.
Rinse with some tap water and squeeze out the water.
Cut into 3 cm wide rings and set aside.

For pork balls
300g pork belly, minced
handful of dried black fungus, soaked until soften
2 chinese mushrooms, soaked until soften
thumb length piece of carrot, peeled and brunoised
1 egg white
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
dash of ground white pepper

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly with clean hands in a mixing bowl or with a food processor and refrigerate for 30 min to marinate.

For making fish paste (for fish balls and omelette roll)
600g-700g of fish meat, from ikan parang or other suitable fish varieties like ikan tauhu or ikan tenggiri (without bones)
1/2 tsp salt
1 generous tbsp tapioca starch
generous dash of ground white pepper
2 small ice cubes**
1/2 tsp chicken powder (optional)

Mix everything together and rub the seasoning in the fish meat with clean hands, feeling for any fish bones at the same time. Rub the ice cubes into the fish meat until the ice cubes have completely melted. Alternatively, everything can be blitz in a food processor until a fine paste is obtained.
Refrigerate for 30 min to marinate.

** the ice cubes make the fish paste more bouncy and succulent as I was told.

For prawn balls
200g prawn meat (without shell or head), minced
100g fish paste (see above)
1 generous tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
dash of ground white pepper
1 tsp chili powder (optional)

Mix everything thoroughly with clean hands in a mixing bowl or with a food processor. Refrigerate for 30 min to marinate.

For fish balls
300g fish paste (see above)
a few sprigs of coriander leaves, finely chopped
half a red chili, seeded and finely chopped

Mix the fish paste with the chopped coriander leaves and red chilies. Set aside for later use.

For omelette fish roll
3 eggs, cracked and beaten
pinch of salt and pepper, added to beaten eggs
300g of fish paste (see above)
1 tbsp cooking oil

To a heated frying pan, add 1 tbsp cooking oil and swirl HALF of the beaten egg mixture into the pan to make a thin omelette.
Once the omelette is done, remove omelette onto a large and flat plate.
Repeat with the other half portion of beaten egg.
When the omelette has cooled down slightly, place half of the fish paste onto it and use the back of a soup spoon to flatten and spread the fish paste until it reaches the edges of the omelette.
Carefully roll the omelette from one end to the other.
Repeat the process with the other omelette and the other half portion of fish paste.
Rub cooking oil generously onto a steaming dish.
Place the omelette fish rolls onto the steaming dish with the sealing end facing downwards.
Steam the rolls for about 8-10 min.
Set aside to cool down slightly before cutting into diagonal slices.

Garnishing
chinese coriander leaves (daon ketumbeir) for garnishing
1 tbsp of fried shallot crisps or garlic crisps
1 tbsp shallot oil

Method

  1. To cook the hee pio soup, add chopped cabbage and sliced carrots into the pot of pork broth and bring to a boil.
  2. Lower flame and cook for 10-15 min until cabbage just softens.
  3. Add chopped fish maw and lower flame to a bare simmer.
  4. Scoop meat ball paste with a wet soup spoon into a palm moistened with some water, and roll into balls, taking care to press down the julienned black fungus, mushrooms and carrots into the minced pork slightly to prevent them from dislodging into the soup during cooking.
  5. Carefully lower each meat ball directly into the soup broth.
  6. Repeat meat ball making process until all the mixture is used up.
  7. Repeat the same process for making fish balls and finally prawn balls.
  8. Bring the hee pio soup to a boil again and skim off any scum, impurities and oil from the surface of the soup.
  9. Adjust the taste of the broth with salt and pepper (Be careful with the amount of salt to be added as the meat balls have all been seasoned prior).
  10. Before turning off the flame, add the sliced omelette fish rolls.
  11. To serve, ladle ingredients into a large bowl and top up with soup.
  12. Add a dash of ground white pepper, and garnish with coriander leaves, fried shallots or garlic crisps and drizzle over a tbsp of shallot oil.
  13. Serve immdiately with steamed rice and other dishes.

Author

TravelingFoodies

Categories:

, ,
,
,
0
Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube Telegram