Cuttlefish Roe Soup 乌鱼蛋汤

Cuttlefish Roe Soup (乌鱼蛋汤) is a thickened sour-and-spicy soup from Rizhao (日照), on the Shandong coast, made with paper-thin slices of cured cuttlefish gland. Its Chinese name means "cuttlefish egg soup", but a 2022 Dazhong (大众网) report explains that the "eggs" (乌鱼蛋) are not eggs: they are the egg-laying gland of the female cuttlefish, named for its milky colour and egg-like shape. A Rizhao chef quoted by Dazhong calls the soup a true Shandong-cuisine (鲁菜) dish, and Dazhong calls it the standard dish for guests in Rizhao.

Ingredients

The glands come from the golden cuttlefish (金乌贼), a Rizhao speciality, and Dazhong describes the cured product as a sea delicacy found only in Donggang District (东港区). The gland is cut from fresh cuttlefish and cured in a mix of alum and salt, which draws out water and sets the protein. The cured pieces are flattish ovals, from pigeon-egg to hen's-egg size. Before cooking they are washed, dipped in boiling water and then cold water to peel off the skin, torn apart by hand into thin layers and soaked again.

How it is made

Besides the gland slices, the soup needs little more than egg white, chopped coriander, salt, spring onion and starch slurry. Dazhong puts the weight on the stock, quoting the saying "a singer's voice, a cook's stock". Mou Zongxi (牟宗喜), executive chef at a Rizhao hotel, finishes a bowl in six or seven minutes.

Flavour and texture

In the bowl the slices open out like white petals, thin as paper. The soup is thick, sour and spicy, and is served steaming. Mou says it warms in winter and cools in summer.

Where it comes from

The Rizhao county gazetteer (日照县志) of 1715, the 54th year of the Kangxi reign (康熙), records that the cuttlefish "has eggs in its mouth" and ranks them among the eight treasures of the sea. They were sent as tribute until the end of the Qing dynasty. Rizhao cuttlefish glands were shown at the national agricultural exhibition in 1964 and won a silver award at the first national agricultural expo in 1992.