Hong Kong Style Imitation Shark Fin Soup

Place 300g pork collar butt and 6 chicken feet into boiling water over high heat for 3 to 5 minutes to release impurities, then remove and rinse thoroughly in cold water.

Remove stems from 5 soaked shiitake mushrooms, then slice them along with 30g soaked wood ear fungus into uniform fine strips.

Place washed pork collar butt and chicken feet into a soup pot with 2000ml water. Cover, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes to extract a rich gelatinous broth.

In another pot of boiling water, cook 200g fresh pork skin over high heat for 10 minutes until softened and set, then transfer immediately to cold ice water to chill completely.

Place chilled pork skin on cutting board, slice diagonally into paper-thin sheets, then shred finely into shark-fin-like threads. Immediately submerge in cold water to prevent sticking.

Uncover the soup pot, remove cooked pork shoulder. Strain the broth through a sieve to remove oil and solids into a clean pot. Hand-shred cooked pork along grain into fine meat threads.

Bring strained broth back to a boil over high heat, add hand-shredded pork meat, quickly loosen with chopsticks, then add sliced shiitake and wood ear fungus, stirring well.

Add 1 tsp sugar and 0.5 tsp salt into the boiling soup, stirring until fully dissolved to create a savory-sweet foundation.

Drain shredded pork skin from cold water, add into the boiling soup, stirring to disperse. Drizzle in 1 tbsp dark soy sauce while stirring until the soup reaches a rich golden amber brown colour.

Mix 3 tbsp cornstarch with 4 tbsp water into a smooth slurry. With soup boiling rapidly, slowly pour slurry in batches while stirring continuously until broth turns thick and silky. Turn off heat.