raw fish soup- sheng yu tang

[soroki]

dear cotters,
my so just had an operation. . i understand that sheng yu tang is goog for recovery.. but what is that? where do i buy ready ones?
are there any other soups that are good for recovery? his mum told me black chicken soup no use

[BubblyGal]

that fish look very ugly.. i had it when i had my op last time
very fishy smelly also... made me puke


I thought my mum said cannot have chicken when havin op.. will made the wound heel slower

[soroki]

oh.. thanks for telling me about the chicken.. i didint know about it.. btw, where to buy the fish? and how to cook it?

[saresha]

The soup has nothing to do with raw fish as such, though the fish is sold live (they will slaughter and clean it on the spot - you don't want to watch!) The fish is called snakehead, and you can get it from the wet market at Chinatown. If you pan-fry the fish before cooking the soup, you should be able to reduce the fishiness. According to my grandmother, other ingredients you might want to add are bei3qi2 (a kind of chinese herb) and red Chinese 'dates' (aka jujubes).

[soroki]

wow sound quite disgusting.. does it look like a snake?? only avaliable in chinatown?

[Vienna]

Instead of buying sheng yu, why not try sheng yu essence (like chicken essence). It is also good for healing wounds. Can get from all medical halls.

[soroki]

oh..but he just cant seem to stand the smell of essence of chicken..so not much alternative

[BubblyGal]

its very fishy smell. Hard to removed. I puked before i managed to drink.
Yup it look like snake esp the head.
Don't think normal markets have it UNLESS u ordered
chinatown market sure have it
my dad bought it for there too

[alba]

To reduce the fishy smell, just pan fried lightly with a few slices of ginger.

Remember to add in ginger when boiling the soup.

Redhill market (opp Redhill MRT) have a stall that specialise in snakehead. (They only sell snakehead) in case this location is nearer for you.

Do remember, snakehead soup only only be taken 7 days after surgery to be effective. Cannot drink earlier than that.

Take care.

[Merlot]

The real SHENG(live fish) YU soup is to be made with "just-killed" live fish. U need to go to the fishmonger and tell him which fish u want(swimming in the tank), he will kill it for u. My mom bought from the wet market at little india(sorry i suddenly can't remember the name).

Alternatively, u might also wanna consider using fish bones of threadfin?

Do add some spring onion & ginger to get rid of the fish smell and tomatoes for the tangy taste.

hth

[soroki]

thanks so mcuh ladies.. u all semm to know so much.. i am staying in hougang.. do you guys know any market nearby that sells the fish?

[iflin]

Hi soroki,

I got my shengyu from Redhill market (which alba also mentioned). It's not very expensive..just $4 or $5 for a small one which is sufficient for one person's consumption. They keep the live fishes in a concrete tank and take the fish out to slaughter when there is a buyer. I believe any wet market should sell shengyu too (that's what my mum said).

soroki, according to my sis who heard from her colleague that shengyu is really good for healing wounds from op. Her colleague went thru a second caesarean op, took the shengyu soup and recovered very fast. This stands in contrast to her first caesarean op which she did not take the soup and took more than half a year to recover.

Btw, I heard you can take no more than 2 times of shengyu soup else the flesh will 'overgrow' around the wound.. Hope this helps!

[soroki]

oh.. so it's avaliable in any market..thanks for your infor ladies.. espically that it has 2 be taken 7days after the opt and that must not drink no more then 2 times.. these are very useful info for me as i do not know of such things.. sry ladies, but after pan frying, how do i boil the soup? just add ginger and spring onion? then drink the soup + eat the fish?

[saresha]

Not at any market I think. I think so far on this thread has been mentioned: Chinatown, Redhill, and Tekka (Little India). Just boil the fish with water, ginger (and other herbs if you want). Before serving you can add spring onions and coriander leaves. I suppose you can eat the fish, but if you cook the soup for long enough, the fish won't taste of much and might not be worth eating. The essence is in the soup, so the longer you cook it the better. Don't use too much water.

[soroki]

ermm may i know market is it in chinatown?

iflin: read your thread under health.. hope your mum is getting better.. you seem to know alot on soups
do have you bought yr sheng yu for yr mum?