Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣湯)
Hot and sour soup is originated from northern part of China. Also, Sichuan hot and sour soup is well known for spicy, sour, salty and tasty. In general, Chinese hot and sour soup usually contains ingredients such as wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu, and black Chinese mushrooms. Besides, hot and sour soup helps with digestion and increase appetite. Hence, when people don’t have much appetite, they will drink hot and sour soup. The taste of hot is from spicy chili pepper and sour from black vinegar.
Often people ask what is wood ear? Wood ear is a species of edible fungus or mushrooms type. They are distinguished by its noticeably ear-like shape and brownish color. Moreover, it grows upon wood. Therefore, it was named as wood ear. Not only wood ear fungus is a popular ingredient in many Chinese dishes, but also has health benefits such as anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, anticoagulant and cholesterol lowering properties. Generally, wood ear fungus are in dry form and require soaking before using it.
As I remembered when I was pregnant, I wasn’t feeling well because of the morning sickness. The only thing I craved for was hot and sour soup. On the other hand, some people like to add meat, personally I like vegetarian style. Another thing to remember is to add garlic chili pepper paste according to your taste or how spicy you want the soup to be.
Ingredients:
Firm Tofu a small piece
Bamboo shoots small can 8oz (cup up around 1/2 cup)
Black dry wood ear mushrooms small 10 (cut up around 1/2 cup)
Dry black Chinese mushrooms medium size 3 (cut up around 1/2 cup)
Lee Kum Kee garlic chili sauce 1.5 tablespoons (add spicy to your taste)
Black vinegar 2.5 tablespoons
Chicken broth 4 cups
Water 2 cups
Soy sauce 1 tablespoon
Salt 1/8 teaspoon
Sesame oil (optional some)
White pepper (optional sprinkles to your taste )
Thicken soup:
Corn starch 3.5 tablespoons
Water 5 tablespoons
Instructions:
- Wash and soak black Chinese mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms few hours before (black Chinese mushrooms take little longer, normally I will soak them before go to bed, so I can use them in the morning or so.)
2. Pour 4 cups chicken broth and 2 cups water into a pot and turn on fire to medium and high
3. On the other hand, cut wood ear fungus into small strips
4. Cut black Chinese mushrooms into small strips
5. Cut bamboo shoots into small strips
6. Cut firm tofu into small strips
7. When the broth is boiling, add the cut firm tofu, bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus and black mushrooms into the pot and mix them
8. Until it boils again, add garlic chili sauce, black vinegar, salt, and soy sauce. Then, mix it.
9. At the same time, in a small container add water, corn starch and mix it well. When the soup boils again, add corn starch mixture to thicken the soup a little bit.
10. Sprinkle some green onions on top. Add white pepper and sesame oil if you like because this is optional.
Enjoy this Chinese style homemade hot and sour soup!
Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small piece Firm Tofu
- 1 small can Bamboo shoots 8oz (cup up around 1/2 cup)
- 10 small Black dry wood ear mushrooms (cut up around 1/2 cup)
- 3 medium size Dry black Chinese mushrooms (cut up around 1/2 cup)
- 1.5 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee garlic chili sauce (add spicy to your taste)
- 2.5 tablespoons Black vinegar
- 4 cups Chicken broth
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- Sesame oil (optional some)
- White pepper (optional sprinkles to your taste )
THICKEN SOUP:
- 3.5 tablespoons Corn starch
- 5 tablespoons Water
Instructions
- Wash and soak black Chinese mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms few hours before (black Chinese mushrooms take little longer, normally I will soak them before go to bed, so I can use them in the morning or so.)
- Pour 4 cups chicken broth and 2 cups water into a pot and turn on fire to medium and high
- On the other hand, cut wood ear fungus into small strips
- Cut black Chinese mushrooms into small strips
- Cut bamboo shoots into small strips
- Cut firm tofu into small strips
- When the broth is boiling, add the cut firm tofu, bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus and black mushrooms into the pot and mix them
- Until it boils again, add garlic chili sauce, black vinegar, salt, and soy sauce. Then, mix it.
- At the same time, in a small container add water, corn starch and mix it well. When the soup boils again, add corn starch mixture to thicken the soup a little bit.
- Sprinkle some green onions on top. Add white pepper and sesame oil if you like because this is optional.
Notes
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