Julie Scudder Dearyan - Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and Sour Soup

Years ago, I would go to a Chinese Restaurant that had the best food. At the beginning of the meal, they would always bring me a free hot and spicy soup that to be honest, I didn't like very much at first. But the more I ate it, the more I craved it and now I love this soup. This is the first time I've tried to make it at home. It's not that hard to make but it did take ingredients that I didn't have at home, namely tofu and shiitake mushrooms-both of which were easy to find at the store. If you like Hot and Sour soup, you will love this one. The recipe came from America's Test Kitchen Magazine. Make it and email me to let me know how you liked it.

7 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons plus 11/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 boneless center-cut pork chop (1/2 inch thick, about 6 ounces)—I used pork tenderloin and it worked fine, trimmed of fat and cut into matchsticks
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cool water
1 large egg
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup bamboo shoots (from one 5 ounce can) sliced into 1/8 inch thick strips
4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons chili oil (less if you don't like spicy)
3 med scallions, sliced thin

1. Place tofu on pie plate and set heavy plate on top. Weight with 2 heavy cans and let stand about 15 minutes. Tofu should release about 1/2 cup liquid. Whisk 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in medium bowl, toss pork with marinade and set aside for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.

2. Combine 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water in small bowl and mix thoroughly; set aside, leaving spoon in bowl. Mix remaining 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch with remaining 1 teaspoon water in small bowl; add egg and beat with fork until combined. Set aside.

3. Bring broth to boil in large saucepan set over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low: add bamboo shoots and mushrooms and simmer until mushrooms are just tender, about 5 minutes. While broth simmers, dice tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Add tofu and pork, including marinade to soup, stirring to separate any pieces of pork that stick together. Continue to simmer until pork is no longer pink about 2 minutes.

4. Stir cornstarch mixture to recombine. Add to soup and increase heat to medium-high; cook, stirring occasionally, until soup thickens and turns translucent, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, chili oil, pepper, and remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce; turn off heat.

5. Without stirring soup, use soupspoon to slowly drizzle very thin streams of egg mixture into pot in circular motion. Let soup sit 1 minute then return saucepan to medium-high heat. Bring to a gentle boil, then immediately remove from heat. Gently stir soup once to evenly distribute egg. Ladle into bowls and top with scallions. Enjoy!