Shanxi Cat’s Ear Soup
猫耳朵汤
English: Shanxi Cat’s Ear Soup
Chinese: 猫耳朵汤
Pinyin: mao er duo tang
Literal: Cat’s ear soup
How many pasta shapes can you name? Six? Eight? Fifteen if you’re a Italian obsessive. Now how many shapes of noodle and pasta can you name from China? None? Don’t feel bad, most of us are in the same boat. The little-known coal-mining province of Shanxi has many culinary secrets but their best-kept one is probably how many types of dough-based foods they have. It’s in the hundreds. All shapes and sizes and textures. I love them all, but mao er duo (which translates to cat’s ears in English)are some of my favourite because of their simplicity. Even I can make them from scratch at home, and then use them for a number of dishes.
You can stir-fry them, as in my recipe here, or for something a bit more autumnal, a chicken broth soup is lovely and warming. It reminds me of really rustic, farmhouse food where humble ingredients are treated carefully and simply. Northern Chinese food can often be big and bold, rich and salty, but this soup is gentle. Cat’s ears floating slowly in the thick chicken broth, flecks of colour from the veggies, the tiniest drizzle of soy sauce and sesame oil giving fragrance.
I know it’s annoying to hear, but you will loose the essence of this dish without a rich chicken stock, preferably homemade.
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
For the Cat’s Ear Dough
300g plain flour (all-purpose)
150ml room temperature water
½ tsp salt
For the Soup
1 litre chicken stock
2 slices ginger
1 small carrot, finely diced
100g minced pork
1 tomato, chopped
2 eggs
A handful spinach or bok choy
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
A pinch of white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
2 spring onions - chopped
Method
Note: You can make a big batch of cat’s ear and then freeze them. This works well for this dish.
For the Cat's Ears
Mix the salt into the water until dissolved. Gradually pour the water into the flour, stirring with chopsticks until a shaggy dough forms.
Knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth, then cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Knead briefly again, then rest for another 20 minutes. The dough should be firmer than most Western pasta doughs – dense but still pliable.
When ready, cut the dough into four pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope around 2 cm thick.
Cut each rope into small pieces, roughly 1 cm long. Dust the pieces lightly with flour and dust your work surface too.
Now shape each piece. Place one piece onto the floured surface, press your thumb into the dough and pull it towards you while dragging it lightly across the surface. The dough should curl over itself, forming a little shell with a hollow centre. It should resemble a tiny ear, hence the name.
Continue until all of the dough is shaped, dusting with a little more flour as you work to prevent the cat's ears from sticking together.
Set aside until ready to add to the soup.
For the Soup
In a large pot, bring the stock to a gentle simmer.
Add the ginger and carrot and simmer for 8 minutes.
Add the minced pork, breaking it into small pieces as you drop it into the soup. Add the chopped tomato and simmer together for another 3 minutes.
Add the cat’s ears and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until they are cooked thorough.
Slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs, whilst gently stirring the soup in one direction to create a pan of rotating soup. This will create lovely egg ribbons.
Add the spinach (or greens) until wilted and then season the soup with the soy sauce, salt, white pepper and sesame oil.
Turn off the heat, ladle into bowls and finish with the spring onions.
