Chinese Fish Maw Soup
This Fish Maw Soup is my favorite way to start off a Chinese dinner. It's made with crab, fish maw, egg whites, and chicken stock. The only thing missing is a waiter to sloppily ladle the soup into your bowls while they are rushing around the restaurant.
Ingredients
- 75 g dried fish maw (I bought mine from my local Chinese grocery store)
- 2 pounds chicken (I used chicken drumsticks)
- 5 slices ginger
- 3 green onions (cut into 3-inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon MSG (optional)
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 5 egg whites
- 2 cups crab meat
For serving
- Chinese red vinegar
Instructions
- Soak the fish maw in a large bowl of cold water overnight. Fish maw floats on water so cover it with a plate to keep it submerged.
- In a large pot, add 14 cups of water, chicken, ginger, and green onion. Bring to a boil then let it simmer on the lowest setting for 4 hours. Pour the stock through a strainer and discard the meat, bones, ginger, and scallions (you can eat the meat if you like but it does not have much flavor since it has transferred to the water).
- Return the stock to the pot. Cut the fish maw into ½-inch pieces and add it to the pot. Add the chicken bouillon powder, salt, sugar, and MSG, and cook for at least 40 minutes (see notes).
- Optional: Use an immersion blender to blend ½ of the fish maw into smaller pieces. I find this makes it taste closer to the texture of the restaurant.
- Combine the cornstarch with ½ cup of water and stir into the soup. Bring the soup back to a simmer and the soup should thicken.
- Beat the egg whites in a small bowl until combined. Slowly pour the egg whites into the pot while stirring the soup in one direction. This will distribute the egg whites into tiny strands.
- Stir in the crab meat, and enjoy!
Notes
Update Aug 24, 2025: After making this again, I realized the fish maw gets MUCH more tender if you simmer it for longer. Initially, I recommended only 40 minutes, but 2-3 hours will make it way better. Just make sure to add extra water if the water level gets low.