THE CASE FOR HOT AND SOUR SOUP.
It’s the perfect ‘Special Combination’ cold weather treat.
Sichuan hot and sour soup is thick and meaty; a hale and hearty sort of soupy stew, or stewy soup. But what really keeps us coming back for more is the sharp shock of vinegar, which cuts through the meatiness and brightens and lightens everything.
What makes it ‘Special Combination’ is that the mushrooms are as important as the bamboo shoots and beancurd; the vinegar is as important as the soy; and the cornflour is as important as the beaten egg that forms into flowers in the broth.
And nothing is as important as the white pepper. Deh-Ta Hsuing, author of The Chinese Kitchen, says hot and sour soup doesn’t actually contain chillies – the hotness comes from a very liberal use of ground white pepper instead. But by all means, add chilli in whatever form you like it best.
I’ve always made hot and sour soup with Sichuan pepper, a hangover from my Melbourne Chinatown years, and can’t imagine it without that numbing pepperiness.
QUICK TIPS.
Traditional recipes call for lily buds and cloud ears. Substitute with dried shiitake mushrooms and black fungus. Woolworths sells trays of mixed Asian mushrooms – fresh shitake, wood-ear and king – which give a variety of textures.
Consider also a tablespoon of Sichuan preserved vegetables, rinsed, because they’re so salty, crunchy and other-worldly.
Spring onions are excellent companions. Add the chopped white stalks earlier, the chopped green stalks later. Water chestnuts are also good for crunch.
Don’t skip the cornflour, and don’t skimp on it either. It brings the soup together in a gloriously gloopy, silky, whole. Seems like overkill to do the egg flowers as well, but it isn’t, and again, the impact is vast.
Pork is great in this, as is chicken. I once made mine using left-over roast duck and from that moment on, turned any left-over winter roast into hot and sour soup.
Or make this with vegetable stock, drop the meat, double the mushrooms, and add more veggies.
Add wontons!
Add noodles! Try Hokkien, thin egg noodles, glass noodles or udon (as seen in pic).
HOT AND SOUR SOUP
5 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms
100g bamboo shoots, rinsed
1 thick slice of ginger, peeled
50 g fresh wood-ear fungus, sliced
150 g pork or chicken fillet (or shredded, roasted meats)
1.2 litres chicken or duck stock
100g fresh tofu, drained and diced
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 heaped tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 egg, beaten
Half tsp white pepper or more
2 tbsp black Chinkiang or rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
Good pinch of ground Sichuan pepper (optional)
2 tbsp chopped coriander
Soak dried mushrooms in boiling water for 1 hour, then drain, trim and finely slice. If using fresh mushrooms, wipe clean and slice.
Cut bamboo shoots, ginger, wood-ear fungus and meat into thin strips.
Bring the chicken stock to the boil.
Add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ginger and fungus and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add the pork or chicken, tofu, soy sauce and salt, stirring.
Mix the cornflour into the rice wine with a dash of water, and pour into the simmering soup, stirring, until the soup thickens.
Pour the beaten egg gradually into the simmering soup, allowing it to form fine shreds (which is pretty much instantly).
Remove from the heat, and stir in vinegar, sesame oil, Sichuan pepper if using, and half the coriander.
Taste for the right balance of hot and sour and serve with remaining coriander.
Serves 2 large, or 4 small.
Thanks for dropping by! And thanks for your comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Terry for the “add dumplings!” and “add noodles!” suggestions.
This is an ICYMI post, in case you missed this recipe from a previous (2021) post. Both TD and I have run recipes for it over the decades, with varying degrees of pork, tofu and Sichuan pepper; this is my latest version.
The irony is that I’m currently in Athens, where it is 32C right through until sunset, at a miraculous 8.45pm. And I may have said that this trip was always going to be about discovering wonderful things to eat that I didn’t know existed, but so far, I’m eating two Greek salads a day, as happy as a clam.
But hot and sour soup is now definitely scheduled for the first night back home. No doubt with added noodles and dumplings.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I (usually) work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Thank you for sharing your culture, traditions, knowledge, spirit, art, music, humour and food traditions, allowing us all to experience a sense of belonging in this ancient land.