Recipes with SATS: Chef Lam’s Four Treasures Soup for your reunion dinner

The Chinese New Year marks a time for fresh beginnings, gatherings with friends and family, and, of course, great food. This year, take your reunion dinner to the next level with Chef Lam’s Four Treasures Soup.

Chef Lam shares his Four Treasures Soup recipe, a dish he used to make with his mom

Whether served as an appetiser, a main course, or even the base for a steamboat, this Four Treasures Soup warms both hearts and bellies.

This recipe is by Chef Ng Hang Lam, Executive Sous Chef at SATS. Since 2005, Chef Lam has been in charge of the Oriental Kitchen at SATS In-Flight Catering Centre 2, managing the preparation of as many as 9,000 in-flight meals each day, specialising in Sichuan, Hong Kong, and Cantonese dishes. 

But well before his journey in flight catering started, Chef Lam’s love for cooking began in his mother’s kitchen. He shares, “The Four Treasures Soup was amongst the dishes I always cooked with my mom. It's easy to prepare, yet the result is a meaningful dish for your gatherings.”

The soup’s four main ingredients—abalone, scallop, fish maw, and chicken—typically represent prosperity and abundance and are premium ingredients especially used during Chinese New Year festivities. The best part? This dish is versatile and can even be made in advance of the hectic New Year’s Eve.

Here’s Chef Lam’s recipe, along with his pro tips to help you serve it like a professional chef would.

Four Treasures Soup

Prep Time: 2-3 hours | Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 425g canned abalone
• 4kg organic (kampung) chicken, deboned and cubed
• 200g dried scallops, cubed
• 800g hairy gourd, cubed
• 500g dried fish maw
• 5L chicken stock
• salt to taste
• water as needed

Optional Ingredients

• Shanghai noodles
• fresh scallops

Chef’s Tip

Homemade Chicken Stock: For extra flavour, boil 1kg chicken wing sticks/drumlets with 1.5kg chicken feet.

Method

Step 1: Prepare the ingredients

• Steam the abalone for 60 minutes.
• Pre-boil the chicken cubes in a separate pot.
• Pre-boil the fish maw in a separate pot.
• Rinse the pre-boiled chicken cubes and fish maw under running water for 2 minutes.
• Bring the chicken stock to a boil.
• Add the pre-boiled chicken cubes, fish maw, scallops, abalone, and hairy gourd to the chicken stock.

Step 2: Simmer the soup

1. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours or until the soup reduces by half.
2. Season with salt to taste.

Plating Options

As an appetiser (restaurant style)

• Cut the hairy gourd into rings, removing the seeded centre.
• Simmer the rings in the soup until tender (about 25 minutes).
• Pan-sear fresh scallops (seasoned with salt) until golden brown.
• Place the hairy gourd ring at the centre of the soup plate, filling it with fish maw, dried scallops, pan-seared scallops, and abalone.
• Pour the soup and garnish with wolfberries for a pop of colour.

As a main course (with noodles)

• Bake Shanghai noodles on a tray at 120°C for 12 minutes.
• Simmer the baked noodles in the soup for 7 minutes.
• Transfer the noodles to a bowl, layering scallops, abalone, fish maw, and chicken on top.
• Pour the soup over the noodles.

Feel free to add more ingredients, like prawns, vegetables, oysters, or mushrooms, depending on your preference.

Happy Chinese New Year and happy cooking!