DH and I grew up with American Chinese restaurants (now called Asian or fusion but I’m talking about the old fashioned kind) and we both loooooooved the hot and sour soup they used to serve. Since I have a sensitivity to MSG, many of the restaurants today which serve this soup, sadly, tell me, oops well, that soup comes with it already in there. So I got tired of hearing this and decided to make my own since our longing for this nostalgic dish came upon us often enough. There are no difficult to find ingredients here, no dried lily flower or wood ear mushrooms, even tofu (yes, it’s in there) is easily purchased in my local makolet in the chilled fridge section. So with this caveat about the tofu, all else is simple enough to find. This is a moderately spicy version, you can of course ramp it up with extra chili sauce, more dried ginger and white pepper instead of black which all amps up the heat but DH and I prefer milder. Just sayin’.

I decided to make a broth (I much prefer to know what goes in my soup) but can’t use my usual vegetable broth base since it’s more a vegetarian chicken soup type (Yehuda’s Not Chicken Soup) and while delish, is the wrong base for the soup. So you will use the initial veggies for the broth and don’t discard them! I always repurpose them by mashing or chopping in the food processor and making tuna (or canned salmon is also good) veggie burgers out of it with breadcrumbs and eggs. So gather your ingredients

and the broth ingredients are boiled together and then left to simmer. So scrub and peel the potatoes and place the peels into a cheesecloth bag (this adds both flavor and color) and cut the garlic in half and toss into the cheesecloth bag as well. Then put the peeled and quartered onion, 2 of the peeled chunked carrots in, as well as two of the scallions, a bunch of parsley and a handful of mushrooms. Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, the salt and about 8-9 cups of water in a nice pot about 6 quarts/liters. Bring to the boil and then lower to simmer for about 35-45 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender. Remove from heat and take out the cooked vegetables, straining as much broth back into the pot as possible. Remember, these cooked veggies are excellent fillers for croquettes or meatloaf or even a vegetable loaf. K. Onward!

You can now put your prepared veggies at the ready.

Taste the broth to see how salty it is. If moderate, add the rest of soy sauce, the ginger, the rice vinegar, the sweet chili sauce, the sugar and pepper and sesame oil and stir well into the broth.

Put pot back on the fire and bring back to simmer. Add the thinly sliced carrots, scallions and mushrooms. As it simmers, beat the egg and place by pot with cubed tofu next to it and mix the cornflour and water till smooth.

Put in the tofu. Now pour the cornstarch and water mixture into simmering soup, letting it simmer for about 2-3 minutes.

Immediately add the beaten egg in a stream, stirring till egg “threads” (egg drops) form like so

Serve piping hot in deep bowls to happy people. Sacrilegious or no, I did reheat this the following day and we were equally delighted to snorf it down BUT it’s really better eaten right after preparation.

Hot and Sour Soup

8-9 cups water

2 large onions, peeled and quartered

4 small potatoes, peeled and halved but save the peel and put in cheesecloth bag

4 carrots, peeled- 2 cut into big chunks and 2 cut into matchstick pieces

1 large garlic pearl or 4 cloves garlic peeled (put in cheesecloth bag with potato peels)

1 large bunch parsley

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1-2 flat teaspoons ground dried ginger

2 additional tablespoons soy sauce

4 scallions washed thoroughly- 2 for stock, 2 for later

1 250 gram package mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 250 gram package shimeji mushrooms or Bella mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly or pulled apart

1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper

150 (5 or so ounces) grams firm tofu, cubed

2 tablespoons cornstarch

4 tablespoons water

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Place into a large pot 8 to 9 cups of water, the onion, the potato, the potato, peels and garlic, both in the cheesecloth bag, the salt, a handful of the mushrooms and scallions (only a handful- rest will go in later) and the thick chunks of carrots as well as the parsley and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and the salt. Bring everything to the boil and then lower to a simmer. Cook on simmer for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the potato onion, potato, peels, garlic, and parsley from the soup. Taste a bit of the soup to see how salty it is. If moderately salty, add the remaining soy sauce, as well as the ginger, the rice vinegar, the sweet chili sauce, the sugar and pepper and sesame oil and stir. Let cook for an additional five minutes. Add the thinly sliced matchstick carrots and other 2 scallions and rest of mushrooms to the soup. Continue to simmer for about 4-5 minutes or so. (The vegetables should not be totally tender). Put the cubed tofu in, continue to simmer. In a separate cup mix together the cornstarch and the 4 tablespoons of water stir until completely combined. Add to the soup, stirring smoothly and cook till it thickens somewhat, for a few minutes. Once thickened, take the beaten egg and dribble into the soup to form egg drops. Serve immediately, piping hot, in deep bowls.