04-015 Shark fin soup

04-015
Shark fin soup

A couple of months ago, I got a chance to join a banquet. The banquet is held in a local Chinese restaurant. And I got a chance to try, probably, the most infamous dish in Cantonese cuisine, the Shark fin soup.

Shark fin soup

The consumption of shark fins can be traced back to the medieval age. Shark fins as a delicacy in Chinese cuisine appeared during the Ming Dynasty in China around 600 years ago. The dish was prepared for emperors at big celebrations such as wedding banquets and large gatherings. However, it soon became common fare at big parties like weddings and other important events. Today, shark fin soup is still considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, especially among us, Chinese people.

I eat shark. I don’t think eating shark is anything weird. It is just a bigger fish. It is true that because of its feeding nature, sharks contain many toxic chemicals and heavy metals in their body. Overconsuming shark meat can be harmful. But shark fin is an expensive ingredient. I don’t think many people can afford eating it every day, not to mention overconsuming. My only concern of eating shark is the sustainability of wildlife.

Every year 100 million sharks are killed by the fishing industry. This is doing enormous damage to the ecosystem of the ocean. The number of sharks found in the open oceans has plunged by 71% over half a century, mainly due to overfishing. More than one-third of shark species are threatened with extinction.

Not sure if this claim is valid.
But this warning has no effect to,
at least, half of the world's population.

In recent years, there are voices among the locals on calling people to avoid shark meat consumption. Some local merchants support that. The Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong Disneyland, for example, does not serve shark fin soup. Cathay Pacific Airways also refuse to carry any cargos that contain shark fins. But shark fin consumption is still popular in the city. We do not eat this every day. But when it comes to banquet, you can always find it on the menu.

My conscious on shark consumption is, if I can make decision on the banquet menu, I will avoid. But if I am being served shark fin soup in a banquet… Well, the fish is dead anyway.

In order not to let the poor little baby shark dying in vain, let me show you how shark fin soup looks like and how it is served.

Menu of a Chinese banquet

A Chinese banquet normally contains 8 to 12 different dishes. Shark fin soup is served in the midway, usually being the third or the fourth dish of the banquet. It is also the toasting time. So, when you see the waiter or waitress put a bowl of shark fin soup on your table, prepare your liver.

Waitress serving Shark fin soup

To impress the guests, shark fin soup comes in a big bowl. “See? The master is so generous and serving you a big bowl of shark fins.” Waiter will then help separating the soup into 10 to 12 smaller bowls. Corn starch is added to the soup to make it thicker. Apart from shark fins, you can also find shredded pork, chicken meat and fungus inside. Shark fins do not have any taste. The taste actually comes from other ingredients in the soup. Some people like to add vinegar to it.

This is how the shark fin soup looks like

Only the semi-transparent part inside the soup is shark fin.
The white colour meat is pork.

The texture of shark fins is like that of rice noodles. People sometimes replace shark fins with rice noodles to make a much cheaper alternative but retaining most of the original taste of shark fin soup. If you are curious on the taste of shark fin but do not want to harm any shark, look for those “imitation shark fin soup”.

Imitation shark fin soup

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