Post by Haazen on Feb 14, 2008 23:40:15 GMT -5
I love good Hot & Sour Soup. In fact, I judge a Chinese restaurant by how good their Hot & Sour Soup is. If it is not wonderful, I will not return to eat there.
I have been working on and adjusting this recipe for many years and I am very pleased with it. I have made it several times in the past year and it is always very good so I feel it is now time to release it to you all.
It is not a quick process and I feel every ingredient is very important. Don't leave any of them out in my opinion. This recipes will be long so I can explain stuff well. Just tossing all the stuff in a pot is not the best way to do it. Also, some of the ingredients are added more than once.
Here is a list of stuff needed and then I will explain how to put it all together.
6 oz pig
6 cup chicken broth
1/2 lg onion 6 oz wt
4 celery stalks 5 oz wt
8 oz can bamboo shoots (drain and put in a bowl in fresh water to soak a bit)
1 cup hydrated Wood Ear Mushrooms (about 1/3 cup dry will hydrate to about a cup)
2 small sweet peppers or 1/2 green bell pepper
4 tbl rice vinegar
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbl sesame oil
3 oz water
3 tbl corn starch
1 tsp white pepper
1 jumbo or 2 small egg
8 oz tofu extra firm
1 tbl balsamic
1 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl my vinegar
1/4 tsp cayenne
All items that can be cut up should be thinly slivered. The vegetable can be sliced and added as the soup warms up. There is plenty of time to slice between each item being added.
Brown the pig in a bit of vegetable oil.
Add the chicken broth and continue to heat on low fire.
Slice the Celery and add it to the pot.
Slice the Onion and add it to the pot.
Slice the Green Pepper and add it to the pot.
Slice the bamboo shoots and add them to the pot.
Slice the Mushroom and add them to the pot.
Add the following to the pot:
4 tbl rice vinegar
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbl sesame oil
After this starts to barely boil, just cover and let this all simmer on very low fire for 30 minutes or so.
Now we add the rest of the stuff. It is now about 15 - 20 to eating time.
Lightly whip the egg in a bowl. Slowly pour it into the pot as you stir the soup.
Slice the Tofu and add it to the pot.
This is now where all the tasting comes in. As you add the following, wait a minute and taste it. Add some more, wait a minute and taste again. I believe all the vinegar is needed. It is primarily the White Pepper I am tasting for.
Add the following item:
1 tbl balsamic
1 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl my vinegar ( I will describe this in a minute)
1 tsp white pepper
Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Mix 3oz water and 3 tbl Corn Starch
Slowly add this as you gently stir. This will thicken the soup a bit.
Now after about 5 minutes of slow simmer, do your final taste test.
I believe good Hot & Sour Soup should make your forehead perspire a bit. So I now add a bit a cayenne pepper to adjust the heat factor. 1/4 tsp seems to be just right for me. Adjust to what you like.
A final note. This soup can be frozen just fine with this alteration to the recipe. Before you add the egg and tofu, divide the soup into what will be frozen and what will be eaten. Add the egg and tofu to just what will be eaten now. Adjust the amounts of egg and tofu acording to how much you are gonna eat. Freeze the rest and when you get around to eating it, just add a some egg and tofu.
Now for My Vinegar.
Vinegar in this country (U.S.) is limited to 5% acidity. So water is added to it to bring it down to that 5%. It is rare to find any good vinegar like they have in other countries. So after much experimenting, I have a better vinegar for recipes like this and German Potato Salad and so on.
Take a large mouth, plastic jar. Pour in a quart of Cider Vinegar. Put in the freezer for a day or so. Take it out, turn it up-side down in a large measuring cup. Let it sit at room temperature. When 1 pint of liquid has melted into your measuring cup, you are done. Just throw the remaining pint of ice away.
Vinegar freezes at a lower temperature than does water. So it will melt at a lower temperature than water. After 1 pint of the vinegar has melted, what's left over is mostly water.
I do not know what the actual acidity of this is after this process but I did a scientific experiment. I took some regular Cider Vinegar and some of My Vinegar in 2 cups. I took a rock (it was soft limestone), broke it in half as close as possible. Put a piece in each cup. My Vinegar dissolved the rock in about 30 minutes. It took another hour before the other rock was gone. Oh, and by the way, My Vinegar is much yummyer. It seems sweeter, more nose and much richer. You can also do this with white vinegar. I have both in my refrigerator and use both often. Don't tell anyone. This is our secret ingredient.
I hope you enjoy this soup. I know I do. ;D
I have been working on and adjusting this recipe for many years and I am very pleased with it. I have made it several times in the past year and it is always very good so I feel it is now time to release it to you all.
It is not a quick process and I feel every ingredient is very important. Don't leave any of them out in my opinion. This recipes will be long so I can explain stuff well. Just tossing all the stuff in a pot is not the best way to do it. Also, some of the ingredients are added more than once.
Here is a list of stuff needed and then I will explain how to put it all together.
6 oz pig
6 cup chicken broth
1/2 lg onion 6 oz wt
4 celery stalks 5 oz wt
8 oz can bamboo shoots (drain and put in a bowl in fresh water to soak a bit)
1 cup hydrated Wood Ear Mushrooms (about 1/3 cup dry will hydrate to about a cup)
2 small sweet peppers or 1/2 green bell pepper
4 tbl rice vinegar
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbl sesame oil
3 oz water
3 tbl corn starch
1 tsp white pepper
1 jumbo or 2 small egg
8 oz tofu extra firm
1 tbl balsamic
1 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl my vinegar
1/4 tsp cayenne
All items that can be cut up should be thinly slivered. The vegetable can be sliced and added as the soup warms up. There is plenty of time to slice between each item being added.
Brown the pig in a bit of vegetable oil.
Add the chicken broth and continue to heat on low fire.
Slice the Celery and add it to the pot.
Slice the Onion and add it to the pot.
Slice the Green Pepper and add it to the pot.
Slice the bamboo shoots and add them to the pot.
Slice the Mushroom and add them to the pot.
Add the following to the pot:
4 tbl rice vinegar
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbl sesame oil
After this starts to barely boil, just cover and let this all simmer on very low fire for 30 minutes or so.
Now we add the rest of the stuff. It is now about 15 - 20 to eating time.
Lightly whip the egg in a bowl. Slowly pour it into the pot as you stir the soup.
Slice the Tofu and add it to the pot.
This is now where all the tasting comes in. As you add the following, wait a minute and taste it. Add some more, wait a minute and taste again. I believe all the vinegar is needed. It is primarily the White Pepper I am tasting for.
Add the following item:
1 tbl balsamic
1 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl my vinegar ( I will describe this in a minute)
1 tsp white pepper
Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Mix 3oz water and 3 tbl Corn Starch
Slowly add this as you gently stir. This will thicken the soup a bit.
Now after about 5 minutes of slow simmer, do your final taste test.
I believe good Hot & Sour Soup should make your forehead perspire a bit. So I now add a bit a cayenne pepper to adjust the heat factor. 1/4 tsp seems to be just right for me. Adjust to what you like.
A final note. This soup can be frozen just fine with this alteration to the recipe. Before you add the egg and tofu, divide the soup into what will be frozen and what will be eaten. Add the egg and tofu to just what will be eaten now. Adjust the amounts of egg and tofu acording to how much you are gonna eat. Freeze the rest and when you get around to eating it, just add a some egg and tofu.
Now for My Vinegar.
Vinegar in this country (U.S.) is limited to 5% acidity. So water is added to it to bring it down to that 5%. It is rare to find any good vinegar like they have in other countries. So after much experimenting, I have a better vinegar for recipes like this and German Potato Salad and so on.
Take a large mouth, plastic jar. Pour in a quart of Cider Vinegar. Put in the freezer for a day or so. Take it out, turn it up-side down in a large measuring cup. Let it sit at room temperature. When 1 pint of liquid has melted into your measuring cup, you are done. Just throw the remaining pint of ice away.
Vinegar freezes at a lower temperature than does water. So it will melt at a lower temperature than water. After 1 pint of the vinegar has melted, what's left over is mostly water.
I do not know what the actual acidity of this is after this process but I did a scientific experiment. I took some regular Cider Vinegar and some of My Vinegar in 2 cups. I took a rock (it was soft limestone), broke it in half as close as possible. Put a piece in each cup. My Vinegar dissolved the rock in about 30 minutes. It took another hour before the other rock was gone. Oh, and by the way, My Vinegar is much yummyer. It seems sweeter, more nose and much richer. You can also do this with white vinegar. I have both in my refrigerator and use both often. Don't tell anyone. This is our secret ingredient.
I hope you enjoy this soup. I know I do. ;D