Authentic Chinese Hot And Sour Soup Food

CHINESE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of the water to a boil. Place the bamboo shoots in a small heatproof bowl and pour 1/2 cup of the boiling water over them; let soak for 5 minutes then drain. Add the dried mushrooms to the water to the water remaining in the saucepan and let soak for 15 minutes. Drain the mushrooms through a sieve, reserving the soaking liquid. Slice the mushrooms, discarding the stems.
• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 4 minutes or until no longer pink on the outside. Add the soaked mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, green onions, stock, soy sauce, honey, and mushroom soaking liquid. Bring the sauce pan mixture to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 cup water. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the simmering soup and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tofu, vinegar, and red pepper sauce. Cook until the tofu is heated through.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP (酸辣汤)

Steps:

• Gently rinse dried shiitake mushrooms, dried wood ear mushrooms, and lily flowers with tap water. Soak each of them with 1.5 to 2 cups warm water in three big bowls. Rehydrate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until tender. Slice mushrooms into strips. Snip off the tough ends of lily flowers and discard. Remove tough ends of wood ear mushrooms, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the marinating water from lily flower and shiitake mushrooms, 2 cups in total
• Combine pork, Shaoxing wine, salt and cornstarch in a bowl. Mix well by hand. Marinate for 10 - 15 minutes.
• Add Chinkiang vinegar and white pepper into a small bowl. Mix well until the white pepper is completely dissolved.
• Add water or chicken stock, ginger, and green onion into a pot and heat over medium-high heat. If you reserved the marinating liquid from step one, you can add it plus 4 cups water or chicken stock.
• Add rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lily flowers, and tofu to the pot. Cook until bringing to a simmer. Add soy sauce and turn to medium-low heat.
• Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water in a bowl until cornstarch is fully dissolved. Slowly swirl the cornstarch slurry into the soup. Stir to thicken the soup.
• Add the pork from step one into the soup, stirring several times to prevent the pork strips from sticking together. Add the salt. Slowly swirl in the beaten egg and stir well. The egg should be scattered and not clotted.
• Remove the pot from stove. Add the vinegar and pepper mixture and stir to mix well.
• Garnish with cilantro and drizzle with sesame oil. Give it a final stir. Taste the soup and add more salt if needed.
• Serve hot.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• (Ingredient A) Cut the pork loin into fine julienne. Marinate with the light soy sauce, vegetable oil, and cornstarch for 15 minutes.
• (Ingredients B) Soak the dry mushrooms and wood ear fungus until they are soft and fully hydrated. Cut them into fine julienne. Cut three slices of ginger and set aside. Cut the carrots into julienne. Cut the tofu into strips.
• Bring the water to a boil. Cook the meat for half a minute. Then add the remaining ingredients in (B)into the pot and boil for two minutes.
• Add ingredients (C) to the above.
• (Ingredients D) Thicken the soup with the cornstarch slurry (corn starch mix with water), Then follow by adding the beaten egg.
• Remove from heat. Add ingredients in (E). Mix well and serve.

TRADITIONAL SZECHUAN-STYLE HOT AND SOUR SOUP WITH TOFU FRITTER

Steps:

• Combine the pork with the sesame oil, soy, and cornstarch. Let stand for 30 minutes. In a hot stockpot, add oil and sear the pork, stirring quickly then set aside. Add the chiles and ginger, and stir. Add the stock, sugar, bamboo and wood ear and bring to a boil. Season. While boiling, drizzle in the egg to form ribbons. Add the cornstarch and stir constantly to thicken. Add vinegar, soy, sesame oil, scallions and cilantro including the pork and check for seasoning. I love my soup tart and spicy so more vinegar and white pepper can be added. Add Tofu Fritters to each bowl of soup and serve.
• Preheat a fryer to 400 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the tofu, yolks, scallions, sesame oil, ginger, and sausage. Season and fold into egg whites. Using 2 spoons, make quenelles and gently place in a dish of rice flour and coat using your hands. Place in deep fryer and fry to golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season, place in soup, and immediately serve.

CHINESE SPICY HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Soak the dried mushrooms and tiger lily buds in warm water for 20 minutes. After trimming off any tough stems, slice the mushrooms. With the fingers, shred the tiger lily stems.
• Place the mushrooms, tiger lily buds, stock, bamboo shoots, and shredded pork into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in soy sauce, sugar, salt, white pepper, and vinegar. Combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water. Add a little of the hot soup to the cornstarch, and then return all to the pan. Heat to boiling, stirring. Add the bean curd, and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
• Just before serving, turn off the heat. Stir the egg in gradually. Mix in sesame oil. Sprinkle each serving with scallions.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP (BETTY FOO; HUNAN RESTAURANT)

Steps:

• Clean the dried day lilies, soak them in warm water for about 20 minutes.
• Cut off the hard, tough tip of the stem and then cut the day lilies in half lengthwise.
• Clean and soak the wood ear mushrooms in warm water for about 20 minutes, then cut into small pieces. To clean, just wipe with a damp cloth -- don't soak or wash!
• Bring the chicken broth to a boil and then add the pork (or vegetarian alternative -- see below), skimming the surface of any fat.
• Cook the pork for 3-4 minutes, until the broth comes to a boil again.
• Add the tofu, mushroom pieces, bamboo shoots, and day lilies.
• Let the pot return to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a low boil.
• Add the soy sauce, spices, vinegar, salt and sugar.
• Taste the soup, adjusting the vinegar (you may need to modify up or down by an ounce) for the "sour" and salt for balance.
• Mix the corn starch and water to create a paste for thickening.
• Add the corn starch mixture slowly, stirring constantly.
• Drizzle the beaten eggs in slowly while stirring, so that you get "strings" of egg.
• Turn off the heat.
• Presentation -- ladle the soup into bowls, then garnish with 1/2 tsp of scallion per bowl and a drizzle of sesame oil.
• Comments on ingredients & substitutions:.
• Dried lily pods and wood ears (also called "tree ears", "black fungus" or "Hu Bei") available in most oriental markets.
• Chicken stock -- use home made or a low sodium canned variety. For Vegetarians use a Vegetarian Chicken stock or a Vegetable Stock.
• Pork -- For kosher alternative, use shredded chicken or turkey; for vegetarian alternative, replace pork with a mix of fresh flavorful mushrooms, e.g., shiitake, oyster, or portobellos.
• Soy sauce -- Betty uses regular soy sauce -- if using a "lite soy" variety, you may have to adjust the amount of salt to taste.
• Vinegar -- the vinegar is the essence of the "sour" aspect of this soup, and distilled white vinegar gives you the strongest taste; rice vinegars, wine vinegars, apple cider vinegars, etc, will either be too dilute (not enough acidity) or add extraneous flavors.
• Garlic -- garlic powder is preferred in this recipe, but if you choose to use cloves, leave them whole, add them only to flavor the chicken broth and remove them before adding other ingredients.
• Sesame oil -- adds a shimmer and smoky flavor to the final product. Chinese sesame oil is typically from toasted seeds; Japanese is typically untoasted, so the flavor will be subtly different.

CHINESE HOT-AND-SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Toss pork with dark soy sauce in a bowl until pork is well coated.
• Soak black and tree ear mushrooms in 3 cups boiling-hot water in another bowl (water should cover mushrooms), turning over black mushrooms occasionally, until softened, about 30 minutes. (Tree ears will expand significantly.) Cut out and discard stems from black mushrooms, then squeeze excess liquid from caps into bowl and thinly slice caps. Remove tree ears from bowl, reserving liquid, and trim off any hard nubs. If large, cut tree ears into bite-size pieces. Stir together 1/4 cup mushroom-soaking liquid (discard remainder) with cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside.
• Meanwhile, soak lily buds in about 1 cup warm water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain. Trim off tough tips of lily buds. Cut lily buds in half crosswise, then tear each half lengthwise into 2 or 3 shreds.
• Cover bamboo shoots with cold water by 2 inches in a small saucepan, then bring just to a boil (to remove bitterness) and drain in a sieve.
• Stir together vinegars, light soy sauce, sugar, and salt in another small bowl.
• Heat a wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Pour peanut oil down side of wok, then swirl oil, tilting wok to coat sides. Add pork and stir-fry until meat just changes color, about 1 minute, then add black mushrooms, tree ears, lily buds, and bamboo shoots and stir-fry 1 minute.
• Add broth and bring to a boil, then add tofu. Return to a boil and add vinegar mixture. Stir cornstarch mixture, then add to broth and return to a boil, stirring. (Liquid will thicken.) Reduce heat to moderate and simmer 1 minute.
• Beat eggs with a fork and add a few drops of sesame oil. Add eggs to soup in a thin stream, stirring slowly in one direction with a spoon. Stir in white pepper, then drizzle in remaining sesame oil and divide among 6 to 8 bowls. Sprinkle with scallions and cilantro before serving.