Some of us are furious to learn about how our adorable little sharks have been treated with barbaric cruelty when their fins are sliced off and thrown back into sea. Others who don’t find the sharks adorable highlight ecological issues like impending extinction, disruption of food chains etc. Others are disgusted with shark fin simply because it’s hip to support this outcry. So here’s my version of mock shark fin soup. Hopefully, it will please both those who love and hate the dish.

First, you fry scallion or green onion with ginger slices in oil. You need quite a bit of ginger here.

Next, you would need to discard the ginger and scallion. Leave the oil in the pan to fry the crab meat. Add lots of pepper and some soya sauce and stir fry for a while.

Add the fried crab meat to some soup stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, add a few spoons (a cup in my case) of hua diao wine add starch suspension to thicken the soup.

Here is my version of the shark fin replacement – needle mushroom or Enoki in Japanese. This mushroom has been touted to have strong anti-cancer and immune-enhancing properties.

And here’s the final product. Add a few drops of black vinegar and you’re ready to serve. I find the texture of the Enoki mushroom to come quite close to that of shark fin. Do try this at home. Everyone will love it. The most expensive ingredient is the crab meat which costs less than $3 in frozen packets.