Hot and Sour Soup

Sharp peppery soup with tofu, mushroom and egg ribbons.

Ingredients

• 8 cups Chicken stock
• 1 block Tofu
• 1 cup Wood ear mushrooms
• 1 cup Bamboo shoots
• 2 Eggs
• ¼ cup Black vinegar
• 1 tbsp White pepper
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 tbsp Sesame oil
• 3 Spring onions
• 150 g Ground pork

Method

1. Prepare the mushrooms — Soak the wood ears until they swell, then slice thinly.
2. Build the soup — Simmer the stock with pork, mushrooms and bamboo for 10 minutes.
3. Season — Add soy sauce and a generous amount of white pepper — the heat comes from pepper, not chili.
4. Thicken — Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer until it turns silky.
5. Add tofu — Slide in the sliced tofu.
6. Egg ribbons — Turn off the heat, then pour beaten egg in a thin stream while stirring one direction.
7. Finish with vinegar — Add the black vinegar last so its sharpness survives.
8. Hot and Sour Soup is ready — Add sesame oil and spring onion and serve.

More China recipes

• Kung Pao Chicken
• Pork Dumplings
• Egg Fried Rice
• Mapo Tofu
• Sweet and Sour Pork
• Chow Mein