Recipe for Hot and Sour Soup

<– THIS is what it looks like outside my window today.

<– THIS is how it has looked for the last few weeks.

<– THIS is not the kind of weather that one would venture out in to to pick up some Chinese Food.

<– And, THIS is not the kind of weather that the Chinese restaurants will deliver in.

SO, what is a Mee to do?  What Mee must do is to make do with what one can do inside one own’s kitchen.  And this recipe for Hot and Spicy Soup would be perfect remedy for the deep freeze that we were in.

If you’ve got 30 minutes, and all these ingredients on hand, then have we got a nice stomach warming recipe that will feed your family of four.

Hot and Sour Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

Lily buds

6 dried wood/tree ear or cloud ear mushrooms
6 dried dried shiitake mushrooms (aka Chinese black mushrooms)
8 dried lily buds
4 cups Chinese Superior Stock (see below) or chicken broth or chicken stock or vegetable broth
1 (8-ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained and sliced thinly
8 ounces firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch strips
4 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
1 tablespoon chili sauce, such as sambal oelek
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed into 2 tablespoons water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons chili oil
4 green onions sliced

Directions:

1. Pour 1 cup boiling water over the wood ear and shiitake mushrooms and soak until tender, about 15 minutes, before slicing them and reserving the water.
2. Pour 1 cup boiling water over the lily buds and soak until tender, about 15 minutes, before slicing them and discarding the water.
3. Bring the broth, reserved mushroom water, mushrooms, lily buds, pork, bamboo shoots, tofu, vinegar, chili sauce, soy sauce and sugar to a boil in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Mix in the cornstarch and water mixture and simmer until the soup thickens a bit, about 2 minutes.
5. Slowly pour in the eggs in a small stream while stirring the pot, to get long thin streams of egg in the soup.
6. Mix in the sesame oil, chili oil, white pepper and green onions, remove from heat and enjoy!

Stay warm my friends!

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

—Mee Magnum  (“Chop!  Chop!”)