Shanghaitang Recipes

HONG DOU TANG

Steps:

• Soak the beans in a medium bowl with enough cold water to cover by about 2 inches, for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• When the beans are almost ready, soak the dried tangerine peel in a small bowl with enough warm water to cover until softened, about 20 minutes. Using a spoon, scrape off as much of the white pith as possible, then finely chop the peel.
• Drain the beans and transfer them to a 5-quart Dutch oven. Add 1 teaspoon of the chopped tangerine peel, the baking soda and 7 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook the beans, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until soft, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, soak the tapioca pearls in a small bowl with enough cold water to cover until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• When the beans are ready, strain out 1/2 cup of the cooked beans and transfer to a small bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher and then return the mashed beans to the pot. Add the drained tapioca pearls, sugar and salt. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the pearls are completely clear and soft, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

GAMJA TANG

Steps:

• Make the broth: In a medium Dutch oven, combine the vegetable broth, ginger, mushrooms, onion, chili, and doenjang. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until you have a lovely aromatic broth as a base for this stew, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Fish out the mushrooms and slice them, then return the slices to the broth.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup water, the garlic, gochugaru, gochujang, "fishy" sauce, and wild sesame seeds.
• Make the stew: Add the sauce, potatoes, and bean sprouts to the broth and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
• Right before serving, add the scallions, perilla leaves, sweet potato vermicelli, and sesame oil.

SAMGYETANG (GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Rinse the rice, then cover it with water and soak for at least 2 hours, or overnight. At the same time, soak the ginseng (if using dried; there's no need to soak fresh) and the red dates, separately.
• When rice, dried ginseng and jujubes have finished soaking, drain and rinse them. Remove the giblets from the hens and rub about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt all over each, inside the cavity and underneath the skin.
• Put a couple of spoonfuls of soaked rice into each cavity, then add the ginseng root, jujubes and garlic, and finish stuffing with more rice. Some cooks truss the birds, but the rice will expand during cooking and keep most of the stuffing inside the cavity.
• Place the two hens and any remaining rice in a pot just big enough to hold them both. Add the white parts of the scallions. Fill the pot with 8 cups water or more, if needed, to cover most of the chicken.
• Cover, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, until the meat falls easily off the bone.
• Transfer each chicken to a large soup bowl and add the broth. Sprinkle chopped green scallions on top, and salt to taste at the table.

FILIPINO SINARSAHANG

Steps:

• Heat a large pot over medium heat and add garlic. Cook until just golden; add oil and onion. Cook until onion is shiny, 1 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes. Add chicken and bay leaf. Add water and bouillon and bring stew to a boil, about 5 minutes.
• Add vinegar to the stew in the pot. Cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes, adding extra water if necessary.
• Add soy sauce to the stew and simmer 40 minutes more.
• Season with red pepper, salt, and black pepper.