Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup {菠菜蛋饺粉丝汤}

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Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup {菠菜蛋饺粉丝汤} is a traditional dish in China’s Yangtze River Delta area, home to Huai Yang cuisine. It features egg crepe wrapped pork dumplings, mung bean thread noodles, and spinach in a delicious broth soup.

This used to be a Chinese New Year celebration dinner feast must-have as I grew up in Suzhou, in the heart of Yangtze River Delta. However, I hadn’t had this for a long, long time, until I developed a simplified method of making egg wrapped pork dumplings recently.

What is DanJiao (蛋饺)?

DanJiao is egg crepe wrapped pork dumplings. Classic food in China’s Yangtze River Delta area. We typically wrap DanJiao, steam, and then add them into a soup.

Mung bean thread noodle with spinach is the most popular soup featuring Dan Jiao. Although you can add them to any broth-based clear soup.

What is FenSi (粉丝)?

The literate translation for FenSi (粉丝) is “Powder Threads”, implying the bean powder used to make the thread noodles.

The traditional FenSi (粉丝) is made of mung beans. The thread is very thin, equivalent to Italian angel hair pasta, with a whitish matte look. They do not taste silky. Instead, they have a very subtle gritty texture and a mild nutty flavor.

Don’t confuse FenSi with FenTiao (粉条)

FenTiao (粉条) is translucent or glass sheer-looking noodles made of oriental sweet potato starch. For this reason, people often refer FenTiao as glass noodles. They taste silky and slippery.

People use both regular oriental sweet potatoes or purple oriental sweet potatoes to make FenTiao. They came either in the shape of rods like spaghetti, or flat strips like fettuccini.

What do you need to make Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup?

Cooked Egg Wrapped Pork Dumplings – Read here to learn how to make egg crepe wrapped pork dumplings at home from scratch.

FenSi – Mung Bean Thread Noodles usually come in dried noodle form. Soak them in plenty of room temperature or lukewarm temperature water for a few hours to allow them fully re-hydrate.

Broth – Broth as the soup base. You can use any type of broth. Homemade chicken broth works great too.

Spinach – Salad spinach, stem-on spinach or Chinese spinach shall all work out great.

Salt – Himalayan pink salt is my go-to salt besides sea salt.

Green Onions – We can add chopped green onions as an optional garnishing item.

Sesame Oil – Optional but highly recommended item. Sesame oil has a rich, enticing taste and aroma. It is the essential ingredient for the well-like Chinese Style Egg Drop Soup.

White Pepper – Freshly ground white pepper is a popular condiment for Chinese soups. Compared to black pepper, it has a sharper spiced flavor.

How to make Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup {菠菜蛋饺粉丝汤}?

See the “Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup” Recipe for a detailed tutorial. Here are key steps.

1. Soak FenSi thoroughly to re-hydrate them fully before cooking

Take the time to soak the dried mung bean thread noodles in plenty of room temperature or lukewarm water.

2. Add broth and DanJiao into a pot, bring it to a boil

Traditionally, we use a clay pot to cook and serve this soup. Clay pot helps keep the soup warm longer.

3. Add FenSi to the pot, bring it to a boil

Stir gently to separate them and bring the soup back to a boiling point.

4. Turn off the heat and add spinach and season the soup to the flavor

Keep in mind that the soup continues to cook in the pot after we turn off the heat. This is especially true for a clay pot, which has a superb capability of retaining heat for longer time.

Spinach is a tender, leafy vegetable. We do not want to over-cook them. The remaining heat in the soup suffices to cook the spinach. Add chopped green onions, freshly ground white pepper, and a splash of sesame oil.

Like naturally delicious Huai Yang classic dishes? Make sure you also check out the below Recipes:

• Authentic Lion’s Head Soup (Port Meatballs)
• Rice Cake Stir-Fry with Nap Cabbage and Pork Slices
• Rice Flour Gnocchi with Bok Choy Soup