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Hot & Sour Soup

(recipe, Katie Hickey)

Introduction

This recipe uses pork, dried shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and white vinegar. It's very tasty, and Mike was a big fan.

Ingredients

  1. 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
  2. 1 package of firm tofu
  3. ½ cup canned bamboo shoots
  4. ¼ lb. boneless pork
  5. 1 qt. chicken stock, fresh or canned
  6. 1 tsp. salt
  7. 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  8. ¼ tsp. ground white pepper
  9. 3 Tbsp. white vinegar
  10. 3 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 4 TBSP. cold water
  11. 1 egg, lightly beaten
  12. Sesame seed oil
  13. 1 scallion, finely chopped

Steps

  1. Place the mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Meanwhile, add the chicken stock, salt, and soy sauce to a soup pot and bring to a boil. While waiting for the liquid to heat up, slice the bamboo in thin matchsticks and trim the fat off the pork and cut it in strips ½ inch long and ¼ inch thick. Remove the mushrooms from the hot water; put the mushroom water in the soup pot. Slice the mushrooms thinly. Add the bamboo, mushrooms, and pork to the now-boiling soup. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes.
  2. Use about half the block of tofu - you want about ¾ cup of tofu sliced in matchsticks. Add the tofu, pepper, and vinegar to the pot. Bring to a boil again. Add the cornstarch mixed with water to the pot, and stir until the mixture is thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the egg, stirring gently.
  3. Ladle the hot soup in bowls and garnish with a teaspoon of sesame oil and some chopped scallions.
  4. Adjustments:
  5. This could easily be made vegetarian or vegan by substituting dashi or vegetable broth for the chicken stock and omitting the pork and/or the egg.
  6. If you want more sourness, try another tablespoon of vinegar.
  7. If you want it even thicker, try another tablespoon of corn starch mixed with water.