Hot and Sour Soup for Man Food Mondays

One of my favorite things to order in a Chinese restaurant is hot and sour soup.  I understand that for some folks a good hot and sour soup is the mark of a good  restaurant, and it’s kind of that way for me.  I enjoy  pepper in most of my foods and this fits the bill.  On a cold afternoon, this soup will clear your head and get you feeling better.  It’s my go-to cold remedy.

The original recipe was given to me almost 10 years ago, and I had misplaced it until recently.  This is actually the 2^nd time I have made it.  The last time was almost 8 years ago.  I was anxious to see how it turned out.  I did contact Kristy to see if it was OK for me to post it here and got the go ahead.  I hope you take the time to make it and let me know what you think.

The process is a bit labor intensive, the ingredients are, however, easier to find these days than in the past.  Most food purveyors carry everything needed, and I added to the recipe, just because I can’t help myself.

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 Hot and Sour Soup for Man Food Mondays

Author Michelle

Ingredients

• 6 cups Chicken stock
• ½ cup bok choy/napa cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 cup shitake, cloud-ear or other Mushrooms, thinly slice
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsps. gnger root, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsps.corn starch
• 2 Tbsps. water
• 6 to 8 oz. firm tofu,cut into thick strips
• ¾ cup white vinegar
• 2 Tbsps. fresh ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• * 1/2 can thin sliced bamboo shoots ( should look like toothpicks)
• *chopped cilantro
• * pinch of kosher salt +/-
• *1 Tbsp. red chili paste
• *¼ lb. pork, sliced thin 1/8 to 3/16 thick
• *½ lb salad shrimp
• *added to original recipe

Instructions

1. Bring broth to a boil in a large pot.
2. Add bok choy, mushrooms, scallions, soy sauce & ginger root.
3. Combine cornstarch & water in small bowl. Stir into broth and bring to a boil. When it returns to a boil, boil for 3 minutes.
4. Cook your pork and add to the broth, add in salad shrimp to broth.
5. Add tofu, vinegar, and fresh ground black pepper to taste (love pepper!).
6. Adjust seasoning as necessary and reduce heat to simmer.
7. Slowly drizzle in eggs. (If you do not SLOWLY drizzle you get clumps of scrambled eggs.) Stir gently.
8. Remove from heat, add sesame oil and serve immediately

I will caution about adding in ingredients, I do not like my hot and sour soup to be crowded with stuff, in some cases less is more. You may be tempted to put more  meat and shrimp into the broth, resist!

This soup is good as a stand alone meal or you can add you favorite entree or salad, I like lettuce and ginger dressing with it.  It is quite filling.

Please give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Take care until next week.

Steve