Corn soup is an underrated dish in Malaysian Chinese cuisine, and is often the quick go-to for many weeknight family dinners. During festive occasions, such as Lunar New Year's eve, where a large reunion dinner is held to unite family, seafood is added to the meal so symbolise abundance in the new year [年年有余 (surplus)/ 年年有鱼( fish)]. This dish incorporates traditional Chinese ingredients thought to have healing, medicinal properties, such as dried shiitake mushroom and ginger. Coming from a FuZhounese background, I also added 'meesua' a noodle used to signify longevity.
How to make it
Firstly, mince a knob of ginger, and soak 1/4 cup of dried shitake mushrooms in 1cup hot water. Once the mushrooms bloat and increase in size, remove them from the water and mince them as well. Keep the water used for soaking the mushroom for later. The size of the minced ingredients should be smaller than the spaces in between the prongs of a fork.
Next, take one roll of imitation crab and half a cup of precooked prawns and run them through a grater.
Add a tablespoon of oil into a pot and stir fry on high heat the minced garlic for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Then, add the minced shiitake mushroom and stirfry for another 15 seconds. Add one chicken stock cube to the water used to soak the mushrooms and let dissolve. Add the mixture to the pot. Proceed to add one can of creamed corn. Reduce the soup over high heat until it can be picked up with a fork with little to no droplets coming through the prongs.
**To add the meesua, break up the dry noodle into small pieces and add into soup while boiling.