Braised Beef with Potatoes
Beef braised until tender with potatoes that soak up the savoury sauce — a classic family stew.
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Taishi Snake Soup
A thick Cantonese soup of shredded farmed snake, wood ear and mushroom in a three-hour old-hen broth, finished with lemon-leaf shreds and crisp wonton skin. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 太史蛇羹, report 25.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 太史蛇羹_25.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 3 hours 30 minutes (mostly stock)Cook: 10 minutesTotal: 3 hours 40 minutesServings: 2Difficulty: AdvancedRegion: CantoneseFlavour: Savoury-rich (snake and old-hen broth)
Why this works
Taishi soup is famous, and its fame rests on a stock that cannot be hurried: an old hen and snake bones simmered three hours without topping up the water, until the broth turns thick and milky-white and tastes of long cooking rather than of any single ingredient. The snake meat itself is treated with equal care — boned so the shreds stay whole, blanched thirty seconds, then simmered two minutes in the finished broth, never longer, so it stays silky inside a soup that is itself almost a sauce. Thickening with potato starch, poured slowly around the pan's edge while stirring in one direction, is what gives the soup its clinging, spoon-coating body; dumped in at once, the starch lumps and the soup turns gluey in patches. Lemon-leaf shreds, themselves blanched five seconds for safety, and a shard of crisp fried wonton skin on top give the final contrast of fragrance and crunch against the richness.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmed water snake (shuilü), live weight, yielding about 88 g meat | 8.8 oz live | 250 g | Specialist ingredient — farmed, non-protected water snake from a licensed supplier only, where legal. Do not use wild-caught or protected species, and never slaughter a live snake at home unless you are trained and it is legal to do so; buy pre-cut farmed snake meat instead (home safety adaptation). |
| Old hen, for stock | 3.5 oz | 100 g | For the stock only; the meat is not served. A stewing hen or mature chicken works (adaptation). |
| Water, for stock | About 2 cups, reducing to 300 ml | 500 ml | Simmered down to 300 ml per serving. |
| Dried wood ear, soaked | 0.35 oz | 10 g | Soaked and shredded. |
| Dried winter mushrooms (donggu), soaked | 0.5 oz | 15 g | Soaked and shredded. |
| Astragalus (beiqi) | 1 tsp | 5 g | For the stock; omit if unavailable (adaptation). |
| Codonopsis (dangshen) | ½ tsp | 3 g | For the stock; omit if unavailable (adaptation). |
| White pepper | Pinch | 0.5 g | — |
| Potato starch | 2 tsp | 8 g | Mixed with 20 ml cold water before use. |
| Lemon leaf shreds, blanched 5 seconds | ½ tsp | 2 g | Blanched in boiling water for 5 seconds before garnishing, per the report. |
| Crisp fried wonton skin | 1 tsp | 5 g | Fried until crisp; store-bought crisp wonton strips work (adaptation). |
Equipment
- Large stockpot
- Fine strainer for the stock
- Thermometer
- No stockpot? A large heavy pot with a lid works (adaptation)
Steps
- Make the stock (3 hours). If starting from a whole farmed snake, this step is for a trained handler only; home cooks should buy pre-cut farmed snake meat and a separate piece of bone for stock, or use chicken stock enriched as below (home safety adaptation). Blanch the old hen pieces, then simmer with the snake bones, astragalus and codonopsis in 500 ml water: bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 3 hours without adding water, until the broth is thick and milky-white. Strain. If you have no snake bones, simmer the hen with a chicken carcass and a little pork skin for body (adaptation).
- Blanch the shreds. Shred the snake meat, soaked wood ear and soaked mushrooms separately. Blanch each in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain, so each reaches at least 75 °C / 167 °F.
- Simmer the soup. Bring 300 ml of the strained stock to a boil, add the snake, mushroom and wood ear shreds, and simmer on medium heat, uncovered, for 2 minutes, keeping a gentle boil throughout so the snake cooks fully.
- Season and thicken. Stir in the white pepper. Mix the potato starch with 20 ml cold water, pour slowly around the edge of the pan while stirring clockwise, and stir for about 30 seconds until the soup is thick and coats a spoon.
- Serve. Ladle into pre-warmed deep bowls. Check the soup is at least 75 °C / 167 °F and holds it for 15 seconds, per the report. Garnish with the blanched lemon-leaf shreds and serve the crisp wonton skin alongside.
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Technique: stir one way, pour at the edge
Starch thickening fails in two ways: lumps from pouring into the centre, and a broken, watery soup from stirring back and forth. Pouring the slurry around the pan's edge lets it meet hot liquid gradually, and stirring in one direction keeps the starch network even, so the soup thickens to a smooth, clinging body instead of patchy glue. If it does lump, a few seconds of vigorous one-direction stirring usually rescues it.
Variations
- No snake: there is no substitute that keeps this dish itself; chicken shreds in the same stock make a good soup but it is not Taishi snake soup (adaptation note).
- No herbs: omit the astragalus and codonopsis; the stock will be lighter but still rich (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Is snake soup legal and safe?
Only from farmed, non-protected species bought through a licensed supplier, where local law allows it. Never use wild-caught or protected snakes, and cook exactly as directed — the blanching and the two-minute boil are safety steps.
Why three hours for the stock?
The old hen and bones need that long to release gelatin and flavour without added water diluting the broth; topping up mid-simmer thins it.
Can I make the stock ahead?
Yes — the strained stock keeps 3 days refrigerated or freezes for 1 month; the final soup should be assembled just before serving.
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh. The strained stock keeps 3 days refrigerated or 1 month frozen. The finished soup keeps 1 day refrigerated; reheat to a full boil. Do not freeze the finished thickened soup — the starch breaks on thawing.
Taishi Snake Soup — Recipe Card
Shredded snake, mushroom and wood ear in a thick old-hen broth, with lemon leaf and crisp wonton.
Prep: 3 hours 30 minutes (mostly stock)Cook: 10 minutesTotal: 3 hours 40 minutesServings: 2
Ingredients: 250 g farmed water snake (live weight); 100 g old hen; 500 ml water reduced to 300 ml; 15 g winter mushrooms; 10 g wood ear; 5 g astragalus; 3 g codonopsis; 0.5 g white pepper; 8 g potato starch; 2 g lemon leaf; 5 g crisp wonton skin.
Steps: 1) Simmer stock 3 hours, strain. 2) Blanch shreds 30 seconds. 3) Simmer in 300 ml stock 2 minutes. 4) Thicken with starch, garnish and serve.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 太史蛇羹 (data/reports/25.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The report's own cost summary contradicts its ingredient total, so no cost figures are reproduced. The pre-cut snake meat and no-snake-bone stock adaptations, and the legality warning, are home safety additions and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (太史蛇羹_25.jpeg).