Secret Recipes

Szechwan Hot and Sour Soup

• 6 dried cloud ear mushrooms
• 6 dried chinese black mushroom
• 6 dried tigerlily buds
• 4-1/2 cups double-strength chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp peanut oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/3 pound lean boneless pork or skinned boneless chicken
• 4 ounces fresh bean curd, cut in thin strips
• 1/4 cup bamboo shoots, cut in thin strips
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp Chinese red rice vinegar
• 2 tsp thinly sliced green onion, including some tops
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp freshly ground white pepper, Hot Hot Oil or chile oil (see instructions)
• Sugar to taste, if desired

Pour boiling water over cloud ears, black mushrooms and tigerlily buds. Let soak 15 minutes. Drain; cut off woody parts of mushrooms and hard tips of buds, then slice very thinly. Set aside.

Heat broth in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, heat peanut and sesame oils in a wok or large skillet; when oil is hot, sprinkle on soy sauce. Add pork or chicken and stir-fry just a few minutes or until crisp on edges. Add mushrooms and tigerlily buds and stir to brown edges lightly. Then add meat and mushroom mixture to broth and stir well; stir in bean curd and bamboo shoots. When soup comes to a gentle simmer, pour in beaten eggs, stirring soup with a swirling motion. As soon as eggs start to cook, remove soup from heat.

Rinse 4 to 6 individual soup bowls or 1 large serving bowl with hot water. Then mix vinegar, green onion, 2 teaspoon sesame oil and white pepper, Hot Hot Oil or Chile Oil. Divide mixture equally among individual bowls or place all in a large bowl.

Taste soup and adjust seasonings, adding more soy sauce or perhaps a pinch of sugar if a less sour flavor is desired. Stir to mix the cloudlike shreds of egg evenly, then pour into individual bowls or serving bowl. To eat, bring soup spoon up from the bottom of the bowl to mix hot and sour flavors into each bite.

Servings:

6 to 8

Source:

Susan Lee, San Francisco