Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Submitted by Julie Bs Hive

"This spicy soup is great when served just before a stir-fried dish or lo-mein noodles."

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photo by limeandspoontt

Ready In:: 42mins
Ingredients:: 14
Yields:: 1 1/2 cup
Serves:: 4

ingredients

1 ¹⁄₄ cups water
³⁄₄ cup canned bamboo shoot, drained
4 large dried shiitake mushrooms
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 in thin strips
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
¹⁄₃ cup green onion, including tops, sliced
2 ¹⁄₂ cups chicken stock
2 -3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons cornstarch
8 ounces firm tofu, cut into 2 in thin strips
2 tablespoons rice vinegar or 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
¹⁄₄ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce (to taste)

directions

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of the water to a boil. Place the bamboo shoots in a small heatproof bowl and pour 1/2 cup of the boiling water over them; let soak for 5 minutes then drain. Add the dried mushrooms to the water to the water remaining in the saucepan and let soak for 15 minutes. Drain the mushrooms through a sieve, reserving the soaking liquid. Slice the mushrooms, discarding the stems.
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 4 minutes or until no longer pink on the outside. Add the soaked mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, green onions, stock, soy sauce, honey, and mushroom soaking liquid. Bring the sauce pan mixture to a simmer.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 cup water. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the simmering soup and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tofu, vinegar, and red pepper sauce. Cook until the tofu is heated through.

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Reviews

Very good, I especially loved the broth! I doubled the tabasco and that was the perfect amount of heat. I subbed extra chicken for the tofu and used button mushrooms. Next time, I would eliminate the dried shiitakes and just use fresh shiitakes. The shiitakes gave the soup a richer and more authentic flavor than button in my opinion. Plus, the soaking method for the mushrooms didn't work that well because the water did not fully cover them, so I had portions that were still pretty rubbery despite stirring them every few minutes. Thanks for sharing!

noway
This was LOVELY Julie B's Hive!!! We BOTH enjoyed this for lunch today - I had all the ingredients, apart from the tofu, to hand, and it was a nice tangy and sour soup - could have been a WEE bit hotter for our tastes, but that is personal preferences! I used Chinese dried black mushrooms for a VERY authentic flavour and a little extra diced chicken in place of the tofu. I would have liked the soup to be a bit clearer, it was quite dark - but that is just an aesthetic observation! Maybe I will use a bit less soy sauce next time - and that will decrease the salt slightly as well. A very nice and quite authentic flavour - THANKS for posting this recipe, made for Chinese New year Asian Tag Game, Feb 2008 - GREAT! FT:-)

French Tart
Two errors in the directions... First off use of the bamboo shoots is not addressed and second, (mushrooms) to the water to the water is written twice... Also... the type of fresh mushroom used makes a big difference... And this recipe does not specify which types to use... white button mushrooms add no flavor in this soup! Slivers of wood ear, diced shiitake and/or oyster mushrooms would improve the flavor immensely.

ddean1257
Yum! This was a easy and a very, very good soup. I did add a 1/4 cup of carrots(cause had to use 'em)& extra hot sauce (don't have it in front of me, but it has a rooster on it). Also, a little extra chicken & tofu(cause I didn't have my scale handy). With the extra's it made a super hardy soup. Will made this again and again! Thanks for the recipe! (Made this for Chinese New year Asian Tag Game, Feb 2008.)

ellestrange
Absolutely delicious! I did not change anything to the recipe.

calaminthe

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Tweaks

Very good, I especially loved the broth! I doubled the tabasco and that was the perfect amount of heat. I subbed extra chicken for the tofu and used button mushrooms. Next time, I would eliminate the dried shiitakes and just use fresh shiitakes. The shiitakes gave the soup a richer and more authentic flavor than button in my opinion. Plus, the soaking method for the mushrooms didn't work that well because the water did not fully cover them, so I had portions that were still pretty rubbery despite stirring them every few minutes. Thanks for sharing!

noway
Yummy soup loaded with mushrooms, tofu and chicken.... protein, yeah! Instead of the dried shiitake mushrooms, I used a can of straw mushrooms and reserved about 1/2 cup of the liquid for adding to the soup later. This made enough to feed three of us as a main course. I wasn't sure where to add the bamboo, so I threw them in with the mushrooms and it worked great. Thanks for sharing this unique soup! Made for Chinese New Year game.

Brooke the Cook in

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Julie Bs Hive

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