Source: Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng & Michele Morris HPBooks
Makes 8 servings.
Preparation time: 2 hours
Tips: Soup is best the day prepared.
Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
Preparation
3 dried wood ears
20 dried tiger lily buds
3 cups hot water
1/4 pound lean pork meat, cut in small strips
Marinade:
1/2 teaspoon rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch (may need more)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts
1/4 cup shredded bamboo shoots, very thin strips
2 tablespoons shredded fresh carrots, very thin strips
1 3-inch square Bean curd, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon vinegar, may need more adjust to taste
5 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons water
1 egg beaten
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, may need more.
1/2 teaspoon white pepper, may need more.
1 tablespoon sesame oil
soy sauce to taste
1. Soak wood ears and lily buds in 3 cups hot water 15 minutes to soften. Remove stems from softened wood ears. Shred wood ears with a cleaver.
2. Slice pork into thin strips. Use a cleaver to chop strips into shreds. Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Add pork shreds; mix well. Let stand 15 minutes.
3. Combine chicken broth and 5 cups water and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium. Add mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, carrots, wood ears and lily buds to broth. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes. Add pork shreds with marinade and bean curd. Bring to boil. Add Worcestershire sauce and vinegar.
4. Dissolved cornstarch in 5 tablespoons water to make a paste. Slowly stir into soup. Cook over medium heat until soup thickens slightly. Stir egg into soup. Add black pepper, white pepper and sesame oil.
5. Adjust vinegar to taste, black and white peppers to taste. If you like a really HOT and SOUR soup, you will need to double the amounts of vinegar and pepper called for or more. If soup is not thick enough, add more cornstarch introducing it to the soup in the same matter as in step 4. Soup will get thicker as it simmers. Do not let it boil rapidly.
Serve hot.
