Feb 032012
 

[Chinese Soup - Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Shiitake Mushroom and Fat Choy Black Moss]

I am heading down an experimental path with my cooking lately.  It started with the purple sweet potato I used to re-create a traditional rice dumpling (tang yuan) dessert in my last recipe.  This week, I am using an ingredient that I have never cooked with although it is familiar to me.  This ingredient is very well known in the Chinese cuisine.  You might have even eaten it before at a Chinese banquet.  This ingredient is especially popular around Chinese New Year since its name is phonetically the same as the Chinese words that mean “generate prosperity.”  Can you guess what ingredient I am referring to?

For many Chinese, my description of the ingredient is probably a complete give-away.  For many Westerners however, my clues can be entirely ambiguous.  You may have not even heard of this ingredient, although you could have eaten it at a more authentic Chinese restaurant.  The ingredient I’m referring to is “fat choy” (髮菜), also spelled “fà cài” in Mandarin.  In plain simple English, this ingredient is also called “black moss”.

[Chinese Soup - Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Shiitake Mushroom and Fat Choy Black Moss]

Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Shiitake Mushroom and Black Moss (Fat Choy)

What is this food with a funny sounding name? [By the way, the "fat" in "fat choy" is pronounced "fàh," not "fat" as in "obese."  I had to point this out in case you were giggling all this time thinking the word is pronounced in the latter way! =) ]  Ok, back to the ingredient.  “Fat choy” is a very deep green edible algae that looks like threads or hair strands.  This is why the Chinese call this algae “fat choy” which literally translates to “hair vegetable.”  This algae’s color is so dark that it almost appears black in color when dried.  In the photo above, you can see that the fat choy can even appear brownish black after it has been cooked.  And if you are a health nut, you may find it interesting to know that fat choy is related to the spirulina edible algae that is often used in super green foods, health supplements and drinks.

Research has however shown that fat choy has no nutritional value and can even be difficult to digest if consumed in large amounts.  Fat choy is also flavor-less.  For these reasons, I have only come to know this ingredient through my parent’s cooking and at restaurants rather than in my own kitchen.  Being in an exploratory mood lately though, I decided to make this traditional Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Shiitake Mushroom and Black Moss.  The good thing here is that fat choy is one of the easiest ingredients to work with.  Just see my recipe instructions below to see what I mean.

[Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Shiitake Mushroom and Black Moss (Fat Choy)]

5.0 from 3 reviews
Recipe: Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Mushroom & Black Moss (髮菜支竹馬蹄瘦肉湯)
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 4 bean curd sticks (about 4 oz)
  • ½ cup of pearl barley
  • 15 water chestnuts
  • 8 shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 small handful of black moss (aka "fat choy")
  • 1.5 lb of lean pork, already marinated with salt
  • 2 slices of ginger
  • 12 cups of water
  • pinch of salt to season
Instructions
  1. Break the bean curd sticks with your hands to about 3 inch long pieces. Rinse and soak the bean curd stick pieces and shiitake mushrooms separately until soft (about 20 mins).
  2. Bring a small pot of water to boil to blanch the pork. In a separate large pot, boil 12 cups of water to cook the soup.
  3. While the water is cooking, cut the pork to 2 inch cubes. When the small pot boils, blanch the pork. Drain and set aside.
  4. When the large soup pot boils, add the ginger, shiitake mushrooms, and blanched pork. Cook covered for a few minutes on high heat until the water boils again. Turn the heat to Low and simmer for 30 minutes.
  5. In the meanwhile, rinse and peel the water chestnuts with a knife. Cut the peeled water chestnuts in half and put in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from browning. Rinse the pearl barley and black moss in separate bowls. Drain and set aside.
  6. After cooking for 30 minutes, add all remaining ingredients to the soup pot except for the black moss. Cook covered on Low heat for 1.5 hours.
  7. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the black moss to the soup pot to cook. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle a pinch of salt to taste and serve.

 

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  12 Responses to “Tofu Skin Water Chestnut Soup with Mushroom & Black Moss”

  1. I haven’t had black moss, but love all other ingredients. It looks like a beautiful soup I’d love to sample!

  2. I love reading your blog because I learn so much! I recognize the black moss, so I think I may have eaten it before (probably in Chinatown in Chicago or San Francisco), but I really had no idea what it was at the time. :) Beautiful photographs!

  3. You always have the most interesting ingredients in your soups! I’ve never heard of “black moss” but will have to keep an eye out for it. The soup is just gorgeous and I bet tastes delicious!

  4. Very informative post. I learn something new every time I visit your website. I hope your Chinese New Year was delightful. Take Care, BAM

  5. I must admit I’ve never heard of black moss before. It looks beautiful in your soup! I long for a bowl of hot soup right now, it’s soooo cold over here! :)

    Thank you for all your emails! I’m going to reply this weekend. :)

  6. This is another one I have to bookmark! I hope I can find some of these ingredients, but wow does this look delicious :)

  7. I know the soup is tasty as you used some of my favorite ingredients in it. I cook “ho see fatt choy” every Chinese New Year. Love the taste of fatt choy. :)

  8. I used “fat choy” mainly during the Chinese New Year and I do enjoy it. This soup looks really tasty and will be good in this cooler weather.

  9. I love tofu skin! This is such a healthy soup! This kind of Chinese soup makes you feel so good, although sometimes I cannot eat certain things… heheeh. Tofu skin is something I’d like to put more. :D

  10. The soup looks so delicious. Do you think I will be able to find black moss at the Asian Supermarkets like H Mart ?

  11. Hi Nik,

    Thank you very much for dropping by my site! I am not familiar with the H Mart supermarket, but I did do a search on their website and was not able to find black moss there. If you want to make this soup but cannot find black moss, you can certainly skip this ingredient. Black moss actually do not have any flavor and would not affect the nutritious value or benefits of this soup.

    If you are really determined to find this ingredient, I did find this black moss on Amazon. But it does not have a photo of the product or have much other product information.

    I hope this helps, and thanks again for your visit!

    Sharon | Chinese Soup Pot

  12. This is a new dish for me and it looks interesting..

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