Dried scallops (瑶柱): the nourishing umami soup base
yao zhu (瑶柱)
Dried scallops, yao zhu or conpoy, add deep savoury nourishment to confinement soups and congee. Why a few go so far, and how to soak and shred them.
Some ingredients earn their place with flavour rather than folklore. Dried scallops, small golden discs also known as conpoy, are the secret behind a confinement congee or soup that tastes deeply of something without a scrap of heavy meat, and that quiet richness is exactly what a tender early appetite often wants.
Why nourish, and why flavour
Dried scallops carry an intense natural savouriness, the umami that makes a broth taste complete. Beyond taste, TCM uses them to nourish yin and to tonify the kidneys and spleen, the deeper reserves and the seat of digestion. So they do two jobs at once: they make the food more tempting, which matters when appetite is small, and they add a gentle, rebuilding quality of their own.
Gentle enough for congee
Where the strong tonic herbs are held back for the rebuilding weeks, dried scallops are welcome earlier. Their classic home is a soft, savoury congee, close cousin to the plain millet congee of the first days, lifted into something richer and more restorative by a few shredded scallops. They belong just as well in the fuller soups later on.
In the kitchen
The method is simple and the yield generous. Soak the scallops in warm water until soft, shred them by hand, and add them, and their savoury soaking water, to the pot. A handful is plenty for a whole soup. They pair naturally with Chinese yam in a gentle tonic, and with fish maw in a grander one.
Buying them
Dried scallops are sold by size, with larger, paler, whole ones costing more. Everyday cooking does not need the top grade; smaller broken pieces give the same flavour to a soup for less. Choose ones that are golden and dry rather than dark or soft, and store them airtight in the fridge or freezer, where they keep for a very long time.
Sources
- The Zuo Yuezi Guide
- Zuo Yuezi: An American Mother's Guide to Chinese Postpartum Recovery (Guang Ming Whitley)
Common questions
What are dried scallops, or conpoy?
They are the dried adductor muscle of scallops, small golden nuggets with an intense savoury flavour. Soaked and shredded, they melt into soups, congee and sauces, giving a deep umami richness that fresh scallops cannot.
Why use dried scallops in confinement cooking?
They turn a plain congee or soup into something that tastes restorative, and the tradition treats them as gently nourishing, tonifying the kidneys and spleen. Because they add depth rather than heaviness, they suit even the gentle early days as well as the richer soups later on.
How do I use them?
Soak them in warm water, from about thirty minutes to overnight, until soft enough to pull apart. Shred them by hand along the grain, then add both the shredded scallops and their savoury soaking water to your soup or congee, so none of the flavour is lost.