[CH] Hot & Sour Soup
Doug Irvine (dirvin@bc.sympatico.ca)
Mon, 22 Jun 1998 21:45:21 -0800
Hot and Sour soup originated in China a long time ago as a way of using
upleftovers! It can be made as hot as you wish by the addition of as
many habs as you want(or any other hot pepper):
1/4 cup cloud ears OR 1 cup dried Chinese black mushrooms
1/4 lb ground pork
3 tbls cornstarch
1 tbls dry sherry OR Chinese cooking wine
1/2 cup water
2 beancurds
4 tbls rice wine vinegar or to taste(this is the sour)
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp hot chile paste
2 tsp sesame oil
3 scallions chopped to garnish
1 quart chicken stock(use good home made)
salt to taste
1 tbls light soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
Soak the black,dried mushrooms in boiling water for about half an hour
then shred them, removing the tough stems first. Combine the pork with
the cornstarch and the rice wine or sherry...Mix the remaining
cornstarch with the little bit of water and set it aside, then cut each
beancurd into one inch pieces...combine vinegar, pepper, chile paste and
sesame oil in a bowl, and chop the green onions(scallions)
Bring the chicken stock, salt and soy sauce to a boil in a non reactive
pot...add the pork and cook for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms and the
bean curd pieces and bring back to boil for another two minutes...add
the cornstarch mix and thicken a little, lower heat and add the
vinegar, taste for seasoning, and stir in the beaten egg, and add the
green onions...That is it, serve it right away, with a bowl of steamed
Thai rice! Just great, and if uyou ad a couple of chopped habs with the
pork, to taste, it will be even better! Cheers, Doug in BC