Dragon Soup

Name: Dragon Soup (Lung Tong)
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 3 cups peanut oil; 2 teaspoons cornstarch; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 6 cups chicken broth combined with 2 cups cold water; 4 egg whites, beaten; ¼ cup finely sliced scallions; 1½ teaspoons ginger juice; 12 ounces chicken cutlets: remove membranes and fat, cut into ½-inch cubes, about 1½ cups net; ¾ teaspoon sugar; ¾ cup fresh (or frozen) peas; ½ cup bamboo shoots, cut into ½-inch pieces; ½ cup fresh mushrooms, cut into ½-inch pieces; 1 teaspoon light soy sauce; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1 teaspoon oyster sauce; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 teaspoon ginger; 2 teaspoons white wine; ¾ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon white vinegar; Pinch of white pepper; ½ pound crab meat; 2 lobster tails, about 1 pound: shell, devein, wash, dry, cut into ½-inch cubes; 1 tablespoon white wine; 1 ounce bean threads (half of a package); 1 tablespoon minced ginger; 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Lung Tong

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Chinese Banquet Cookbook

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 1985

About

This soup is symbolism in a pot. To many Chinese the lobster is a symbol of the dragon, which is itself an Imperial symbol. So this is an emperor’s soup, a rich soup with both lobster and crab meat in it, a dragon soup, and it would not be complete without the dragon’s whiskers, which are of course the bean threads.

Ingredients

12 ounces chicken cutlets: remove membranes and fat, cut into ½-inch cubes, about 1½ cups net
2 lobster tails, about 1

Asia
China
Shanghai
Soup

Method

Marinate chicken and lobster in their individual marinades for 30 minutes; reserve.
Heat a wok over high heat for 40 seconds. Add peanut oil. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add bean threads. These cook virtually immediately, so have a strainer at the ready and pick them out of the oil in 5 seconds. Drain and reserve.
Pour chicken broth and water