Recipe for "hotsour-soup-1"

NAME

     HOTSOUR-SOUP-1 - Szechuan hot and sour soup
     I have seldom been to a Chinese  restaurant  without  having
     hot  and sour soup, and it was pleasant to discover how easy
     it is to make it at home. We have fixed this by itself as  a
     dinner  for  two  with enough left over for lunch.  Particu-
     larly when we add extra meat and vegetables, we  find  it  a
     very hearty soup which is surprisingly easy to make.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4-6)

     15 ml     peanut oil (or other vegetable oil)
     1         garlic clove
     5 ml      ginger root (aboutr 2 slices)
     125 g     boneless pork loin, shredded
     25 ml     soy sauce or tamari
     140 g     bamboo shoots, shredded
     6         dried shiitake mushrooms
     10        dried lily buds (also called golden needles)
     12        dried tree ear fungus (also called cloud ears)
     1 liter   chicken broth (canned or homemade; I  usually  use
               canned)
     15 ml     dry sherry
     50 ml     red wine vinegar
     15 ml     cornstarch
     60 ml     water
     1         tofu pad (a package generally contains 2 pads)
     50 g      green onions
     2         eggs
     15 ml     toasted sesame oil
     1-5 ml     chili oil
     1 ml      white pepper
               salt and more pepper

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Rehydrate the dried ingredients (15  minutes:   in
               lukewarm  water  for the shiitakes, and in boiling
               water for the lily buds and tree ears).  Heat  the
               chicken broth (if it's canned, prepare it).
          (2)  Mince the garlic and ginger root and combine them.
               Shred  the  pork  loin.   Shred the bamboo shoots.
               Combine the cornstarch and the  water.   Chop  the
               green onions.  Lightly beat the eggs.
          (3)  Heat oil in  wok  (medium),  add  the  garlic  and
               ginger, stirring 30 seconds.
          (4)  Add the pork, cooking  until  it  loses  its  pink
               color.
          (5)  Add the soy sauce, cook for 1 minute more.
          (6)  Add bamboo shoots, shiitakes, lily buds, tree  ear
               fungi, stir quickly for 1 minute.
          (7)  Stir in chicken broth, sherry, and vinegar.
          (8)  Stir cornstarch/water mix one last time and add it
               to the soup.
          (9)  Add the tofu and bring the soup to a boil.
          (10) Turn the heat to low, add the green onions.
          (11) Add the beaten eggs in  a  slow  stream,  stirring
               several times.
          (12) Turn off the heat and add the  sesame  oil,  chili
               oil,  white  pepper.  Season  to  taste  and serve
               immediately.

NOTES

     Like many Chinese recipes, it takes longer  to  prepare  the
     ingredients  than it does to cook the soup.  As I understand
     it, hot and sour soup, traditionally, is a Northern  Chinese
     way  of  using  leftovers.   Therefore, there are many, many
     variations possible, particularly in the dried  ingredients.
     We  never  make  it exactly the same way twice.  I recommend
     using the shiitakes at least; most  any  grocery  store  has
     them.  You  may  find tree ears and lily buds in an oriental
     food store.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy to moderate Time: about an hour  Precision:
     no need to measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Dave Bartley
     John Fluke Mfg Co., Everett, Washington USA
     {sun,allegra,uw-beaver,lbl-csam}!fluke!dbb