Shepherd’s Purse Tofu Soup is a very well-known and popular soup in Shanghai. This special vegetable is wonderfully fragrant, with a unique flavor that you may know well from our Pork and Shepherd’s Purse (Ji Cai) Dumplings. You might also have seen jì cài (荠菜) in the freezer section of a well-stocked Chinese grocery store. If you’re unfamiliar with this vegetable, you can read more about it on our Chinese Leafy Greens page.
If you know us at The Woks of life, you may be wondering why Bill, the American Born Chinese (ABC) guy, is presenting this Shanghainese ji cai tofu soup and why Judy, the native born Shanghai city girl and now assimilated Chinese American is not making it.
I think it must be the same “wife technique” she used to make me cook our Ma Lan Tou with Spiced Tofu and the Sauteed Clover Cao Tou stir fry, both of which are iconic Shanghainese dishes.
Anyway, whatever the reason was, the bright side of the story is that I passed Judy’s taste test on all of these recipes!
Recipe Instructions
Prepare the shepherd’s purse by thawing it out in a colander. When it’s completely thawed, use your hands to gently squeeze the water from it. Chop the leaves into small pieces. Set aside. If you can’t find shepherd’s purse, try using frozen spinach.
Prepare, the silken tofu by cutting it into ½-inch cubes. Set aside. It can be tricky to keep them in a cube shape since the silken tofu is delicate, so don’t worry if they aren’t perfect.
Heat the chicken stock in a medium pot or wok. Add the salt, sesame oil, and ground white pepper. Let everything come to a slow simmer.
Stir up your cornstarch and water mixture since the cornstarch settles at the bottom of the bowl when left standing. Turn the heat down, and use your metal hoak or soup ladle to stir the soup in a circular motion so the soup is moving and swirling.
Slowly drizzle all of the cornstarch slurry into the soup while stirring. The trick to thickening the soup with cornstarch is to turn the heat down slightly and keep the soup moving so the cornstarch does not form clumps.
As you continue stirring, turn the heat back up to get the soup to a very low simmer. Check the soup for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Don’t worry if the soup tastes a little saltier than you’d like at this stage, because the Shepherd’s purse and the silken tofu are both unseasoned.
Simmer the soup for a minute, and add the chopped shepherd’s purse. Stir it gently until the leaves are well distributed.
Next, gently add the silken tofu cubes into the soup, and stir, taking care not to break up the tofu. You want to ensure that the tofu and shepherd’s purse are uniformly distributed in the soup and that both are heated evenly. The soup should start to simmer in about 2 to 4 minutes. At this point, you can add a bit more cornstarch slurry if you like a thicker soup, but keep in mind that the soup will thicken more as it cools.
Beat the egg whites briskly for about 10 seconds until the white is broken up and just starts to bubble.
Next, take your ladle or hoak and move it in a wide, steady swirling motion around the perimeter of the pot or wok until the soup is moving. Slowly drizzle the egg white into the soup.
The idea is to get the soup moving quickly enough and pour the egg whites at just the right speed to create what Chinese call “egg flowers” or dàn huā 蛋花, while preventing any large clumps from forming. The technique is the same for making egg drop soup, chicken corn egg drop soup or hot and sour soup. If you have made any of these soups before, then you know exactly what I am describing and trying to achieve with the egg whites.
At this point, adjust the heat so the soup is simmering. Taste the soup again, and season to taste with salt, white pepper, and sesame oil if needed. (Sesame oil and especially white pepper enhances the taste of the Shepherd’s purse, so you can add more or simply put these condiments on the table so they can be added as needed.)
Ladle the soup into bowls to serve or pour the soup into a larger family style soup bowl to serve at the table.
Shepherd’s Purse Tofu Soup
Ingredients
- 8 ounces frozen Shepherd’s purse (225g; can substitute frozen spinach)
- ½ block silken tofu (about 7 ounces, 200g)
- 4 cups homemade chicken stock
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper (or to taste)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (mixed with ¼ cup water)
- 3 egg whites
Instructions
- Prepare the shepherd’s purse by thawing it out in a colander. When it’s completely thawed, use your hands to gently squeeze the water from it. Chop the leaves into small pieces. Set aside.
- Prepare, the silken tofu by cutting it into ½-inch cubes. Set aside. It can be tricky to keep them in a cube shape since the silken tofu is delicate, so don’t worry if they aren’t perfect.
- Heat the chicken stock in a medium pot or wok. Add the salt, sesame oil, and ground white pepper. Let everything come to a slow simmer.
- Stir up your cornstarch and water mixture since the cornstarch settles at the bottom of the bowl when left standing. Turn the heat down, and use your metal hoak or soup ladle to stir the soup in a circular motion so the soup is moving and swirling. Slowly drizzle all of the cornstarch slurry into the soup while stirring. The trick to thickening the soup with cornstarch is to turn the heat down slightly and keep the soup moving so the cornstarch does not form clumps.
- As you continue stirring, turn the heat back up to get the soup to a very low simmer. Check the soup for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Don’t worry if the soup tastes a little saltier than you’d like at this stage, because the Shepherd’s purse and the silken tofu are both unseasoned.
- Simmer the soup for a minute, and add the chopped shepherd’s purse. Stir it gently until the leaves are well distributed.
- Next, gently add the silken tofu cubes into the soup, and stir, taking care not to break up the tofu. You want to ensure that the tofu and shepherd’s purse are uniformly distributed in the soup and that both are heated evenly. The soup should start to simmer in about 2 to 4 minutes. At this point, you can add a bit more cornstarch slurry if you like a thicker soup, but keep in mind that the soup will thicken more as it cools.
- Beat the egg whites briskly for about 10 seconds until the white is broken up and just starts to bubble.
- Next, take your ladle or hoak and move it in a wide, steady swirling motion around the perimeter of the pot or wok until the soup is moving. Slowly drizzle the egg white into the soup.
- At this point, adjust the heat so the soup is simmering. Taste the soup again, and season to taste with salt, white pepper, and sesame oil if needed. (Sesame oil and especially white pepper enhances the taste of the Shepherd’s purse, so you can add more or simply put these condiments on the table so they can be added as needed.)
- Ladle the soup into bowls to serve or pour the soup into a larger family style soup bowl to serve at the table.
Cooked it. Loved it.
Never seen or tried shepherds purse before but I think i got the right one from my local Chinese store! Unfortunately no one knew the English translation for the vege. But tried it anyway and it tasted good. The soup is as good as your chicken stock is since the leaves and tofu did not have strong flavors. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hi Puspavally, be sure to click on the ingredients in the recipe card, including shepherd’s purse. There, you will see that we have Chinese characters. Hopefully that is useful to you in the future :)
This looks delicious. I will definitely gonna try this recipe. I am a foody person and I love to try new dishes. All the ingredients for this soup will be easily available for me at T&T supermarket. I regularly shop there so I know this. I also have a T&T supermarket flyer which shows that T&T supermarket is having discounts on vegetable section so bingo. I will gonna try this today.
Thanks for the recipe. :)
Hope you like it, Amanda!
Great recipe — the hardest part was getting the tofu out of the box without it disintegrating and chopping the frozen block of shepherd’s purse in half. It would be nice if at some point you told us what else we can do with the vegetable because it has an interesting taste and texture.
Thanks Jack! Try it in dumplings/pot stickers or Shanghai stir fried rice cakes with Shepherd’s purse!
Thanks for a great recipe! I eyeball the measurements but I’m sure I used a lot less cornstarch as I think the egg whites give it a lot of body and I prefer the soup to be more liquidy vs. thick. It’s yummy! Perfect for a cold winter night dinner. A meal in a soup with protein and vegetables!
Hi Syl, definitely good to adjust the cornstarch amounts for soup thickness according to your own preferences!
Just picked up some frozen ji cai and am very excited to try cooking a vegan version of this! They have a similar dish at a restaurant near my house, but with fresh sliced noodles and no egg.
Hi Galen, finding the Ji cai is a very big first step! Hope you enjoy the soup and let us know what you use for an egg substitution for your vegan version. I have always wanted to try vegan eggs.
Hi Bill,
Is there a season that shepard’s purse is available in the Chinese groceries because i dont think i have ever seen it — though then again even if i had seen it i dont know that i would have recognized it
Hi Jack, I have never seen fresh Shepherd’s purse sold outside of China, but I have seen many Chinese grocery stores carry frozen packages. You should search for them there and also ask for help. In China, I did not notice any season per se, but they seem to be more plentiful during the summer months. Hope you are able to find some!
Thank you Bill. I will look in the frozen food section of my Chinese grocery this week, see if i can find it & give the recipe a try.
I made this with watercress as a substitute for the shepherd’s purse and it was amazing! Perfect for a dark winter evening when my body was needing warm greens.
Hi Kate, watercress is a great vegetable choice. Watercress is very fragrant and makes a really nice soup!
Shepherd’s purse is also a very common weed throughout much of the US. I’ve always been told it’s edible but never knew how. Next spring I’ll be sure to harvest and freeze some.
Hi Heidi, beware of picking wild shepherd’s purse or any wild plants for consumption! Like picking any wild plants, you need to be careful and double-check if they are edible. I can’t tell you how many times we have seen what we thought was shepherd’s purse but it did not past the smell or taste test. That said, if you are successful, please take some photos and share them with us and I can post them and how you find them for everyone!
Pepperweed, chicory, dandelion … look similar, all edible, tasty
Hi Heidi, please double check and make sure before consuming. I have noticed there is a weed that looks like Shepherd’s Purse, but it lacks Shepherd’s purse’s unique aroma. So please take the time and check it out first.
Although it won’t be at all the same, since this looks like a nice recipe, what would you suggest to replace the shepard’s purse with? Obviously–as you guys should well know from your own experience!–finding Chinese ingredients in the North Country of way upstate NY is impossible. I bought the sui mi ya cai from Amazon, but ji cai ain’t there–except seeds, which I’ve bought. I spent some time at FuDa, where I remember having this soup….
George, I used to live in upstate NY, you can just go up north to Toronto to get everything on this site :) I just picked up some frozen packs of Shepard’s purse from TNT supermarket to try this recipe tomorrow…
Hi Lee, thanks for helping out with the info and hope you enjoy the soup!
Hi George, I bet even in upstate NY there are now some Chinese grocery stores in larger cities that may carry frozen shepherd’s purse. Soil is fertile up there so I bet you will have some good success growing it! For now, I would suggest any variety of fresh or frozen spinach for this soup and while it will not have the unique flavor of Shepherd’s purse, spinach has its own tasty flavor as well. Happy cooking!
Hi Bill, and thanks for this brilliant recipe! I have this soup quite often in the local restaurants in Shanghai and going almost every day to the 早市, I’ve spotted the Shepperd’s purse. Which quantity from fresh do you reckon I should get to make this soup?
Thanks for your help and well done to have passed the ‘wife taste test’ for all your Shanghainese recipes! LOL
Hi Nico, The fresh Shepherd’s purse, more often than not, is more fragrant so it’s nice that you are in Shanghai! we call for about 8 ounces of the frozen shepherd’s purse which is cooked and has water weight and the fresh plants you buy should be lighter so I say start with 8 ounces or 半斤 from the market and see how much extra you have and let us know!