1) I’m afraid I don’t know “fortune chicken soup.” There are many herbal soups that call for young chickens. My understanding is that young chickens retains tender moist texture even after long simmering.
2) For a clear fish soup you want to simmer the stock on very low heat. The reason for this is so the stock will remain clear. However there are fish soups that calls for a “milky” stock. This stock is most commonly made with fish bones and cooked over very high heat. I believe cooking the fish bones in boiling liquid releases the milky particles from the fish protein.
3) For a clear soup I recommend using regular grade tofu. For a thickened soup I would use soft tofu. So if your recipe calls for clear fish stock I would use regular tofu.

thank u

Great post. As the food writer for AsianWeek and writer for food blog (Campusblog), I must thank you. As a 30 year old Asian American, your post has helped me not only extend my knowledge on stock but preserve Chinese cooking.

I left Hong Kong when I was five. Without being able to read Chinese, there are not many sources to learn about traditional Chinese dishes. keep writing.

I also like your frank bio.

I’m glad you are interested in proper stock making techniques! To answer you question I’d agree with your comment on throwing out the meat. It does sound wasteful but there really is not much left on the fibrous meat, nutritionally and taste-wise, after cooking for such a long time.

For making Western cooking stock I often use carcasses from roast chickens. Whenever I make a whole roast chicken I’d save the carcass after carving off the breast meat.

For Chinese stock I use uncooked fresh chicken bones. I usually go to Chinatown markets for them. You can often find fresh chicken bones in other ethnic markets as well. If you are unable to get fresh bones in your local markets and are adventurous, then buy whole chickens and debone the meat at home. You can use the bone and the meat separately.