For lots of people, hot and sour soup is something that comes from Chinese restaurants, as if it were a magical commodity that could only be generated in those specific and exotic precincts. (Perhaps from a special faucet, in the back.)
Fortunately for you — especially if you live somewhere that is not rich in good Chinese restaurants, or you have to avoid the MSG that is often added to stocks in inexpensive Chinese joints to make economically-made stocks taste richer, or you want a vegetarian version — it’s actually an easy soup to make at home. Unlike a lot of other more delicate Chinese soups, it’s one that has the same fabulous keeping quality of Eastern European chicken soups: it’s good on the first day but best on the third. Also unlike many Chinese soups, this one freezes beautifully.
It does require a few unusual ingredients, but none of them are expensive and all can be had at any Chinese market. The “exotics” for this recipe are:
- dried lily buds — these are tigerlily buds, which you can pick and dry yourself if you have access to plants that are grown in areas that aren’t sprayed with pesticides and such. You can also stir-fry fresh tigerlily buds if you have them. They’re delicate and lovely.
- dried wood ear or cloud ear fungus, pre-shredded — cloud ear is more delicate in flavor than wood ear, but more expensive, as well. I use wood ear more often than I use cloud ear so it’s what I usually have in the house. Buy it in the shredded format, as it is something of a pain in the butt to slice up. If you can’t get either one, any dried mushroom shredded into thin strips could go into this, but better something milder like oyster mushroom than something more intense like shiitake/black mushroom. Ceps would be fine.
- toasted sesame oil
- black soy sauce or mushroom-flavored soy sauce, or, if you prefer, tamari — I grab whichever bottle piques my fancy when I make it, since I usually have at least this many options in my condiments stash
- ground hot chiles in oil or other plain chili paste (optional)
Aside from these, everything you need is fairly ordinary.
- fresh ginger — friends don’t let friends cook with pre-minced ginger, right? right.
- fresh garlic — see above
- firm tofu
- some pork, virtually any cut will do, but make sure it is flavorful
- eggs
- cider vinegar
- sugar
- scallions/green onions
- cornstarch or potato starch
- plain (or Chinese style) chicken or vegetable stock
A word about the chicken stock: do not use canned broth, even if it is labeled as “culinary stock,” or any convenience product designed to produce Western-style chicken broth. These are all seasoned with things that are not part of a Chinese stock’s flavor profile, like carrot, celery, sage, bay leaf, marjoram, and so on. You need to either buy or make a stock that consists either of plain chicken and water, or make a Chinese-style stock.
A very simple, four-ingredient version of a Chinese-style stock is this: put the bones and scraps from a couple of plain roasted chickens (which you save in a plastic container in the freezer for just such uses because you are sensible like that), into a large pot, along with at least another pound or two of healthy, uncooked, raw chicken parts. Legs/thighs/backs/necks are best. Cover with about 4 inches of cold water. Add a couple handfuls of trimmed raw green onions/scallions, and a thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, peeled and whacked a few times with the back of a cleaver. Bring this to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer uncovered for about an hour, maybe a bit more. Remove the solids. If desired, pour the stock through a sieve lined with a clean wet (not dry) kitchen towel to strain and clarify it. Given that hot-and-sour soup isn’t a clear soup anyway, I don’t bother if this is the only recipe for which the stock will be used. Shred the meat and save it, either for the soup or for some other purpose.
This is a perfectly suitable stock for Hot and Sour soup, chicken and corn soup, or other soups where substantial quantities of other ingredients will be combining with the liquid. If you were making stock for use in clear soups, or in egg flower soup, you would want to make a somewhat less primitive stock, more carefully seasoned, possibly with a mix of pork and chicken, and definitely clarified.
If you wish a vegetarian stock: The best vegetarian stock for this soup, in my opinion, is leftover water from soaking dried mushrooms, lily buds, and other savory but not salted dried produce. Conveniently enough you will have a fair bit of this just from preparing the ingredients for this soup. But if you are clever you will also regularly save your soaking waters in a container in the freezer. You can also add pot liquors — if they are plain — from boiling or steaming many kinds of veg. I recommend against pot liquors from cabbage-family things including broccoli, since these can get sulphurous, but others, very much including bean waters, are fine. Strain the soaking water/pot liquors through a sieve lined with a wet clean tea towel or, if you have them around, through a paper coffee filter, to remove grit. Bring to a simmer with a handful of cleaned, pared scallions and a goodish chunk of fresh ginger root, peeled and whacked with the back of a cleaver to loosen it up a little, then remove the solids, and you are ready to rock and roll.
METHOD
For each quart (or scant liter) of stock, you will require the following, on the understanding that all amounts are approximate and you can tweak them depending on your tastes:
1/4 cup shredded dried wood or cloud ear
1/4 cup dried lily buds
Because these are dried items, and a volume measurement (don’t get me started), there’s not a convenient way to convert these to metric measure. A volume about equal to a large egg is what is wanted here, perhaps a little more.
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed or minced fine
an equal amount by volume to the garlic of minced fresh ginger root
1/3 pound / 151 g pork, cut into medium dice or matchsticks, as you prefer
1/2 pound / 225 g firm tofu, cut into medium dice or matchsticks, as you prefer
1/2 cup/118 ml dry sherry
1/4 cup/ 60 ml apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 T / 30 ml black soy or mushroom soy or tamari
3 T / 45 ml toasted sesame oil
2 T /28 g sugar
2 eggs
2 T / 28 g cornstarch or potato starch, mixed with about 1/3 cup / 79 ml cold water
a bit of cooking oil (not olive)
chili oil or paste (optional)
Step One:
Reconstitute the lily buds and the cloud/wood ears. You need about 1/4 cup of shredded fungus per quart of stock. Reconstitute them in separate bowls by pouring boiling water over them, waiting 20 minutes, draining them, and repeating the process. Some recipes tell you to do this three times but I find twice is usually enough since you’ll be putting them into a liquid later.
Step Two:
Have your broth at a simmer, but not a boil.
Step Three:
While the dried ingredients soak, get your mise en place together. Mince your garlic and ginger, cut your pork and tofu, chop your green onions/scallions. Combine the sherry, vinegar, soy, and sesame oil with the sugar in a bowl, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch or potato starch with water until smooth and set aside.
Step Four:
Once the lily buds and the cloud/wood ears are reconstituted and drained and set aside, heat a large heavy frying pan or a wok until it begins to smoke. Add a small amount of oil, just enough to film the bottom of the pan, and add the garlic and ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant, then add the pork. (If you are using the chicken meat from your stock-making, as I did tonight, add this as well.) After about a minute, or when the pork is mostly opaque, add the lily buds and cloud ear and stir fry another minute or two.
Step Five:
Remove the stir-fried ingredients from the heat and add to the stock. Add the tofu to the stock. Add the mixture of seasonings to the stock. Raise the heat under the soup and bring it just to the edge of the boil.
Step Six:
While you are bringing the soup up to a near boil, crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat them well. As the soup hits the boil, begin to stir the soup so that you get all the contents of the pot moving in a smooth fashion. Slowly pour in the egg while you stir. The motion of the liquid will help create tender strands of egg.
Step Seven:
Once the egg is incorporated, check the thickness of the soup. For some people, the egg is sufficient thickening and they do not wish a thicker soup. For those of us who are used to American and Anglo-Chinese restaurant versions of the soup, further thickening may be desired. Re-stir the cornstarch and water mixture, then repeat the same procedure you did with the egg, only using the cornstarch liquid instead. This will avoid any clumping or uneven thickening.
Step Eight:
Allow to simmer an additional 4-5 minutes, then reduce heat or remove the flame entirely if you like.
You may serve the soup now, or you may add the chili paste or chili oil if you wish. Remember that you can always add more but once it’s in there, it’s in there for good, so proceed cautiously. You may also add ground black or white pepper at this point if you like, to taste.
This produces a flavorful but pretty well-balanced soup. Some people like it saltier or more sour, in which case I recommend adding soy/tamari or vinegar at the table rather than increasing the amount of soy/tamari or vinegar in the pot.
Note To Vegetarians: Obviously you will omit the pork. I like to add additional wood/cloud ear when I am making a vegetarian version of this soup. Also good is some shredded Napa cabbage. Feel free to experiment. I like it with cubes of steamed sweet potato in the bottom of the bowl; the sweetness is nice with the vinegar.
