recipes@decwrl.UUCP (08/08/86)
Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust
Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted
provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial
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.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE HOTSOUR-SOUP-1 SP "4 Mar 86" 1986
.RZ "HOT AND SOUR SOUP" "Szechuan hot and sour soup"
I have seldom been to a Chinese restaurant without having hot and sour soup,
and it was pleasant to discover how easy it is to make it at home. We have
fixed this by itself as a dinner for two with enough left over for lunch.
Particularly when we add extra meat and vegetables, we find it a very hearty
soup which is surprisingly easy to make.
.IH "Serves 4\-6"
.IG "1 Tbsp" "peanut oil" "15 ml"
(or other vegetable oil)
.IG "1" "garlic clove"
.IG "1 tsp" "ginger root" "5 ml"
(aboutr 2 slices)
.IG "\(12 cup" "boneless pork loin," "125 g"
shredded
.IG "1\(12 Tbsp" "soy sauce or tamari" "25 ml"
.IG "\(12 cup" "bamboo shoots," "140 g"
shredded
.IG "6" "dried shiitake mushrooms"
.IG "10" "dried lily buds"
(also called golden needles)
.IG "12" "dried tree ear fungus"
(also called cloud ears)
.IG "4 cups" "chicken broth" "1 liter"
(canned or homemade; I usually use canned)
.IG "1 Tbsp" "dry sherry" "15 ml"
.IG "3 Tbsp" "red wine vinegar" "50 ml"
.IG "1 Tbsp" "cornstarch" "15 ml"
.IG "\(14 cup" "water" "60 ml"
.IG "1" "tofu pad"
(a package generally contains 2 pads)
.IG "\(14 cup" "green onions" "50 g"
.IG "2" "eggs"
.IG "1 Tbsp" "toasted sesame oil" "15 ml"
.IG "\(14\-1 tsp" "chili oil" "1\-5 ml"
.IG "\(14 tsp" "white pepper" "1 ml"
.IG "" "salt and more pepper"
.PH
.SK 1
Rehydrate the dried ingredients (15 minutes: in lukewarm water for the
shiitakes, and in boiling water for the lily buds and tree ears).
Heat the chicken broth (if it's canned, prepare it).
.SK 2
Mince the garlic and ginger root and combine them.
Shred the pork loin.
Shred the bamboo shoots.
Combine the cornstarch and the water.
Chop the green onions.
Lightly beat the eggs.
.SK 3
Heat oil in wok (medium), add the garlic and ginger, stirring 30 seconds.
.SK 4
Add the pork, cooking until it loses its pink color.
.SK 5
Add the soy sauce, cook for 1 minute more.
.SK 6
Add bamboo shoots, shiitakes, lily buds, tree ear fungi, stir quickly for 1
minute.
.SK 7
Stir in chicken broth, sherry, and vinegar.
.SK 8
Stir cornstarch/water mix one last time and add it to the soup.
.SK 9
Add the tofu and bring the soup to a boil.
.SK 10
Turn the heat to low, add the green onions.
.SK 11
Add the beaten eggs in a slow stream, stirring several times.
.SK 12
Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil, chili oil, white pepper. Season to
taste and serve immediately.
.NX
Like many Chinese recipes, it takes longer to prepare the ingredients than it
does to cook the soup. As I understand it, hot and sour soup, traditionally,
is a Northern Chinese way of using leftovers. Therefore, there are many, many
variations possible, particularly in the dried ingredients. We never make it
exactly the same way twice.
I recommend using
the shiitakes at least; most any grocery store has them. You may find tree
ears and lily buds in an oriental food store.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
easy to moderate
.I Time:
about an hour
.I Precision:
no need to measure.
.WR
Dave Bartley
John Fluke Mfg Co., Everett, Washington USA
{sun,allegra,uw-beaver,lbl-csam}!fluke!dbbrecipes@decwrl.UUCP (12/12/86)
Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust
Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted
provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial
advantage, the USENET copyright notice and the title of the newsgroup and
its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of
the USENET Community Trust or the original contributor.
.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE HOTSOUR-SOUP-2 SP "1 Aug 86" 1986
.RZ "HOT AND SOUR SOUP" "Popular Szechuan Chinese soup"
I learned this recipe while taking Szechuan cooking classes. This
soup is very popular in this country. It comes in a great
many varieties, and can range from very mild to very spicy, and from a
soup to almost a stew. This particular recipe is a medium spicy soup
that should be within most peoples' tolerance range.
.IH "serves 6\-8"
.IG "1 cup" "bean curd," "250 g"
cut into small cubes.
.IG "\(14 cup" "bamboo shoot," "70 g"
shredded
.IG "\(14 cup" "golden needles" "10 g"
(tiger lily pods)
.IG "2 Tbsp" "wood ear fungus" "7 g"
shredded
.IG "\(14 cup" "black mushroom" "12 g"
.IG "1" "egg,"
well beaten
.IG "4 oz" "very lean pork," "120 g"
shredded
.SH MIXTURE A
.IG "1 tsp" "light soy sauce" "5 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "cornstarch" "5 ml"
.SH MIXTURE B
.IG "6 cups" "chicken stock" "1.5 l"
.IG "1\(12 tsp" "salt" "7.5 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "MSG" "5 ml"
(optional)
.IG "1 tsp" "sugar" "5 ml"
.SH MIXTURE C
.IG "3 Tbsp" "cornstarch" "30 g"
.IG "3 Tbsp" "water" "50 ml"
.SH MIXTURE D
.IG "2 Tbsp" "light soy sauce" "30 ml"
.IG "2 Tbsp" "vinegar" "30 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "sesame oil" "5 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "chili oil" "5 ml"
.IG "\(12 tsp" "black pepper" "2.5 ml"
(fresh ground)
.IG "\(12 tsp" "white pepper" "2.5 ml"
(fresh ground)
.IG "3 Tbsp" "scallion," "10 g"
or green onion, chopped
.IG "1 Tbsp" "fresh ginger," "15 g"
chopped (Do not use powdered ginger).
.PH
.SK 1
Put the golden needles, wood ear, and black
mushroom to soak in separate bowls of water. It takes 30 to 60 minutes
for them to be ready. After soaking, the wood ear should be a flexible and
flat material. It may have a few hard lumps; cut these off and discard them.
Discard the soaking liquids.
.SK 2
Meanwhile, prepare mixtures \fBA\fR,\fBC\fR, and \fBD\fR. Place their
ingredients in bowls, and mix well. When mixing with cornstarch, add the
liquid slowly to the cornstarch. This
avoids getting undissolved cornstarch balls.
.SK 3
Shred the pork. This pork must be very lean. The meat
portion of pork cutlets or the center of pork chops are good sources.
Shredding means cutting the pork into pieces about the size of wooden
matches.
.AB "(\(14 inch square by 1\-2 inches)" "(5mm square by 3\-5 cm)"
This is most easily done
by slicing the pork, then laying the slices overlapping each other at an
angle and cutting these at a reverse angle.
.SK 4
Marinate the pork in mixture \fBA\fR for 15 minutes. Then use
.AB "2 Tbsp" "30 ml"
oil to stir-fry the meat until the color changes. Set the meat aside.
.SK 5
Shred and cube the other ingredients.
.SK 6
Bring mixture \fBB\fR to a boil and add the black mushroom, bamboo
shoots, wood ear, bean curd, and golden noodles. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add the meat, then add mixture \fBC\fR. Add the beaten egg while stirring
to disperse the egg in sheets and filaments. Add mixture \fBD\fR,
and cook another minute.
.SK 7
Serve hot.
.NX
Bean curd must be fresh. If you cannot get it fresh, omit it.
.PP
You will need at least 6 bowls (soup bowls are OK), 1 large bowl, and
either a two-handled wok or a large sauce pan. Don't attempt this
with a one-handled wok because it will be filled with boiling soup and is
almost certain to spill.
.PP
Hot and sour soup is a generic soup type, so you can make many
variations on this soup. To control the spiciness, adjust the ratio
between mixture \fBD\fR and mixture \fBB\fR. Changing the ratios
inside mixture \fBD\fR changes the nature of the soup. Finally, you
can add a lot more ingredients if you want. The critical ingredients
are the golden needles, bamboo (although almost any variety can be
good), mushrooms (or fungus of some sort), and pork shreds.
Experiment with different kinds of fungus and bamboo. Adding other
mild vegetables is usually a success.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
easy but tedious.
.I Time:
1\-2 hours (lots of preparation, little cooking)
.I Precision:
measure the ingredients.
.WR
Rob Horn
Infinite, Inc., North Andover, Massachusetts, USA
{decvax, seismo!harvard}!wanginst!infinet!rhorn