From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!alice!physics!mitccc!jfw Newsgroups: net.cooks Title: Hot and Sour Soup III Article-I.D.: mitccc.122 Posted: Tue Jul 20 17:19:28 1982 Received: Sun Jul 25 04:32:05 1982 This recipe comes from Chinese Regional Cooking, by Kenneth H.C. Lo. ------- -------- ------- 1/4 lb. lean pork (or breast of chicken) 1-2 medium onions 8 medium Chinese dried mushrooms 2-3 stalks golden needles (lily buds: optional) 1-2 cakes bean curd (about 1/2 lb) 2-3 leeks 1 egg 2 Tb soy sauce 4-5 Tb vinegar 1 tsp black pepper 1 Tb Sesame Oil 2 Tb Cornflour blended in 6 Tb water 1 Tb lard 1-1/2 pints chicken or meat stock * 1-1/2 Tb Chinese dried shrimps 2-3 Tb frozen or fresh peas 3 Tb shelled shrimps (frozen or fresh) 1 chicken stock cube 1/2 Tb salt Cut the pork (or chicken) into matchstick sized shreds. Cut the onion into thin slices. Soak the dried mushrooms in 1/3 pint hot water for 30 minutes, retain the water. Remove the stalks and cut the mushrooms into quarters. Cut the lily buds into segments, and the bean curd into small cubes. Clean the leeks and cut them into very short segments. Beat the egg for 10 seconds with a fork. Blend the soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, and sesame oil with the cornflour mixture. Heat the lard in a saucepan. Add the pork and onion, and stir fry together over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Pour in the stock. bring to boil and add the dried shrimps, lily buds, mushrooms and mushroom water. Bring to the boil again and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the leeks, peas, bean curd, fresh (or frozen) shrimps, stock cube, and salt. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. Add the cornflour/soya/pepper mixture and stir well. Drip and trail the beaten egg along the prongs of a fork over the surface of the soup. "This could be called a 'junk soup', to which almost anything can be added; but it must retain its essential character, which is that it must be thick (unusual among Chinese soups), dark and strongly flavoured."