Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Hot and Sour Soup


My husband and I LOVE Hot and Sour Soup, however our favorite restaurant went out out of business, (for you locals I am talking about Shangri La).
I have been wanting to try and make it at home, and I finally did. It was fresh, light and according to my husband "restaurant quality but better". He loved it, which always makes me happy. The instructions are long, but in reality it is quite easy to make.

7 ounces extra-firm tofu , drained
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons cornstarch , plus an additional 1 1/2 teaspoons
1 boneless, center-cut, pork loin chop (1/2 inch thick, about 6 ounces), trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch by 1/8-inch matchsticks, (if you freeze the meat for a few minutes it makes slicing easier)

3 tablespoons cold water, plus 1 additional teaspoon
1 large egg
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I used regular and it worked just fine)
1 cup bamboo shoots (from one 5-ounce can), sliced lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick strips
4 ounces fresh shitake mushrooms , stems removed, caps sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 cup)
5 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (you can get the vinegar at any Asian store)
2 teaspoons chili oil (If you don't like it spicy omit this)
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 medium scallions , sliced thin

Place tofu in pie plate and set heavy plate on top. Weight with 2 heavy cans; let stand at least 15 minutes.

Whisk 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in medium bowl; toss pork with marinade and set aside for at least 10 minutes (but no more than 30 minutes).

Combine 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water in small bowl and mix thoroughly; set aside, leaving spoon in bowl. Mix remaining 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch with remaining 1 teaspoon water in small bowl; add egg and beat with fork until combined. Set aside.

Bring broth to boil in large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; add bamboo shoots and mushrooms and simmer until mushrooms are just tender, about 5 minutes. While broth simmers, dice tofu into 1/2-inch cubes. Add tofu and pork, including marinade, to soup, stirring to separate any pieces of pork that stick together. Continue to simmer until pork is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.

Stir cornstarch mixture to recombine. Add to soup and increase heat to medium-high; cook, stirring occasionally, until soup thickens and turns translucent, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, chili oil, pepper, and remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce; turn off heat.

Without stirring soup, use soup spoon to slowly drizzle very thin streams of egg mixture into pot in circular motion. Let soup sit 1 minute, then return saucepan to medium-high heat. Bring soup to gentle boil, then immediately remove from heat.
Gently stir soup once to evenly distribute egg; ladle into bowls and top with scallions and a drop or two of Hot Chili Oil if you are a spice lover.

Notes for next time: Be sure and get extra firm tofu, also 7 ounces was a bit much for us, use less tofu. Add Wood Ear Mushrooms.

14 comments:

Pam said...

What a lovely bowl of soup. I love hot and sour soup but have never attempted to make it. Great photo!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure why, but this soup always gets my appetite going. It's not like it doesn't at least partially fill me up, but it seems like it increases my ability to eat more. Believe me, I'm not saying that is a bad thing!
And nice tip about partially freezing the meat; I'm going to do that next time.

Cheryl said...

Oh, thank you! I get this soup from a resto across from my job and I love it, but want to make my own too. BTW, got a food blog started, just need to put the post up.

Raquel said...

I love hot and sour soup! This version sounds great! Much love, Raquel XO

Anonymous said...

Lou says:
My saliva glands are juicin up thinking about and looking at this thing. Make mine mild.I agree with Erik.

Preppy Pettit said...

Yumm. Too bad I don't feel well and we will eat leftovers tonight.

NuKiwi said...

Mmm...I could go for that right now! Say, what's up with the best places goin' under??? My beloved Hakatamon and your Shangri La...NO FAIR!

Jan said...

There are no decent Chinese restaurants around here, they are all those all you can eat buffet style - yuk.

I do love hot and sour soup though, and yours looks and sounds magnifique!

MaryBeth said...

Ed would totally love this, he gets this soup every time we go out for oriental food.

Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer said...

Now that is a bowl of soup... Now if only the weather would cool off so I could get into comfort food soup mode!! I am looking forward to trying this killer creation :)

Paula said...

Oh you don't know how much I want a bowl of this right now! My hubby loves hot and sour soup, and I love all things with the word soup in the title. Well done!

Chocolate Shavings said...

That looks delicious! It's always a great satisfaction when you're able to reproduce a dish you loved at a restaurant, isn't it?

test it comm said...

I really like Hot and Sour Soup soup as well and I have been wanting to try making it at home. This one looks good! Bookmarked

Unknown said...

I was craving some soup and decided to make my own. Found this recipe and made it. Unbelievable! I doubled the recipe and could not stop eating it!!

Have some with me for lunch today. Thanks for the recipe.

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