mamafufu Q: how is life? A: mamafufu

feb. 7, 2008 is first day of the year in lunar calendar which is celebrated by many countries across asia.  this is year of the rat.  so in welcoming the new year, i decided to make some shark fin soup at home and set the controversy discussion about shark fin aside for a little bit.

shark fin is one of the delicacy in chinese menu partly because of its rarity and the elaborated preparation process.  i started with the dry skinned fins (see picture above), soaked them in water for hours, and steamed them for hours in wine and "high soup".  for one dinner with some left over for the morning, i used about 8 fins or about 250 grams.    

while shark fin is a great source of protein, it doesn't really have much flavor of its own.  this is the reason the soup base itself is very important.  i keep my soup simple with chicken (prefer with bone such as chicken thighs and need a lot of them), aged ham and a few other things.  i simmer it for hours into concentrated essence.  this is also called "high soup" and it pretty much goes well with anything including shoelaces.

with all the work and anticipation it turns out to be a very good meal.  in addition to the soup i also cooked sauté "omaha" filet mignon in honey, sea scallop in xo sauce, and braised chinese mushroom with dry scallop in oyster sauce. 

and what goes best with the shark fin soup after all the trouble of preparing it?  i chose the hennessy "paradise" extra rare cognac this time.  both the soup and the cognac were good to the last drop.  to finish up, i brew myself a pot of 15-year old raw pu-erh tea.  it is a new year after all.

happy new year to you all!

i am "particular" about the chinese tea i drink.  how "particular"?  it is bad enough that i bring my own tea when i eat out at chinese restaurants.  although there are art, science and culture in chinese tea drinking, enjoying a good cup of tea doesn't need to be complicated or expensive.

although a single-serving tea bag in foam cup with hot water will do, there are a lot more to experience.  i am not an expert in chinese tea drinking other than a happy consumer of chinese tea.   in the morning i drink long-jing which is, arguably, the most well-known kind of green tea from the hangzhou area.  for the rest of the day i switch to tie-guan-yin.  as for special occasion, i would brew myself a small pot of pu-erh.  this sounds a bit like drinking red wine doesn't it

tea is both seasonal and even time-of-day sensitive for serious tea drinkers.  some tea is meant to be drunk fresh (i.e. long-jing) and some tea improves with its age (i.e. pu-erh).  the pot and cup matter in many ways such as material, size or even shape.  good tea usually doesn't come in big pot and many tea brew better in cup or gaiwan (see picture above).  water temperature and mineral content do matter as well as something less tangible such as the environment that you are drinking tea in and your companionship.

this is my cup of tea.  what is yours?

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