Week 7: Hot & Sour Soup

Hot & Sour Soup

Yesterday it was 76 degrees outside. And beautiful. Since it’s Texas, it is now sleeting, icing and 23 degrees. And aside from a handful of days this winter, I’ve spent most of it iced in & bundled up. I think the cold wind blowing out of Canada (eh) forgot to stop at the Red River this year, & I don’t like it. Not one bit. I’ve made lots of soup this year in the fight against cold weather and winter snuffles. This hot & sour soup has been one of my favorite rounds of ammo. 

I found this recipe in Chinese Cooking the American Way. It’s a well worn favorite in my cookbook collection. Side note: I collect old cookbooks, and my favorites are usually well worn, sauce-covered & have a thoughtful sentiment hand written on the inside cover. No sweet sentiment to me, just to the person that eventually sold it to Half Price Book, donated it to a thrift store or settled for a quarter at a garage sale. 

I can’t find the button to click where you can link to a real life cookbook, so here’s a picture of the recipe. It is really easy. Probably the only ingredients you’ve never used are dried mushrooms (I put a before/after below because they look so funky), tofu & MSG. And I don’t know where to buy MSG, & even take-out restaurants have deemed it unhealthy, so even after cooking this soup, I still haven’t used MSG. But this soup is fast & warms you up on a cold day like today.

wood ear mushrooms, before

wood ear mushrooms, after

My version:

2 cups chicken stock, heated

1 1/2 cups water, heated

8 oz ground pork (or chicken)

8 oz firm tofu, rinsed & cubed (1/2 in. cubes are a good size)

5-6 dried wood ear mushrooms, reconstituted & thinly sliced

1 cup chopped white mushrooms

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon green onions

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Seasonings:

1 tablespoon pepper

1 tablespoon sriracha (or preferred hot sauce)

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

Cook ground pork (or chicken) in a stock pot over medium heat, until evenly browned. Add in mushrooms, then continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Add heated chicken stock, water, tofu and seasonings, then bring to a boil. Thicken with cornstarch paste (2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons cold water) & continue cooking for 2 minutes. 

Remove from heat & stir in beaten egg. Top with chopped cilantro & green onions. 

It’s still winter for another couple of weeks, so next time cold stops by, you have the flu, or just a craving for homemade hot & sour soup, bookmark this one. It’s a winter winner. Dish up!