Spicy Hot and Sour Soup With Pork

Bakabeth's Note:

Hot and Sour soup is one of my favorite foods. I grew up in the NYC metro area so it was always easy to get delicious soup anytime. Unfortunately I'm currently living in a part of the country where that is not the case! I'm taking it on myself to come up with recipes that are satisfying when I'm homesick. This is a combination of several recipes I tried, but mainly Tyler Florence's. The pork is easier to cut if you put it in the freezer for ten minutes first.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 226.79 g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 113.39 g oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 29.58 ml oil
• 14.79-29.58 ml chili paste
• 14.79 ml ginger paste (or minced ginger)
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 118.29 ml bamboo shoot, thinly sliced (one small can's worth)
• 59.14 ml soy sauce
• 59.14 ml rice vinegar
• 4.92 ml salt
• 2.46 ml white pepper (or more to taste)
• 0.25 ml sugar
• 1419.54 ml chicken broth
• 44.37 ml cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 1 piece firm tofu, drained, sliced and chopped (optional)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 340.19 g pork chop, thinly sliced
• cornstarch
• white pepper
• 4.92 ml oil

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high flame.
2. Add the smashed garlic, ginger paste, chili paste, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes to let flavors blend.
4. Pour in the chicken broth, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, dust pork with cornstarch. You will probably need about 2-3 tbsp, depending on how much pork you have. Season with a few shakes of white pepper and mix thoroughly.
6. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil and fry pork until mostly cooked through. It will finish cooking in the soup but you want the outside a little brown. Add to soup.
7. If you haven't already, dissolve the 3 tbsp cornstarch in the 1/4 cup water and stir until smooth. Pour into the soup and continue to simmer 5 more minutes, until soup thickens. If using tofu, add at this step.
8. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction until the soup is spinning on its own. Then, slowly pour in eggs in a steady stream using a fork to stir if necessary to break up pieces. (The egg should be cooked almost immediately.).
9. Add scallions and enjoy!

Reviews

[Maito]

Delicious! It did have the body and taste of hot and sour soup, with the right balance of flavors. I also did not know what one piece of tofu was, but took the other reviewer's advice and used a half package - but next time I will use the whole package, since it didn't have enough of it. I used less salt and omitted the egg for our tastes. I also used only 2 teaspoons of the oil (the recipe calls for 2 1/3 tablespoons, but the directions call for 3 tablespoons). Browning the meat really gives this a lot of extra flavor - really an excellent hot and sour soup.

[breezermom]

Fabulous! A definite make-again recipe. I wasn't sure what a "piece" of tofu was, so used the entire 14 oz package that was offered at my store. I think it may have been too much. Next time I'll use about half of that. But I definitely wanted to include it, because I've never had Hot and Sour soup without it. Everything else about this recipe was perfect! I probably added too much tofu because I'm not use to cooking with it, so didn't know what a "piece" was! My fault! I used pork tenderloin instead of a large pork chop....that was what I happened to have on hand. I loved this soup, and I'm so glad you posted the recipe. Made for PAC Spring 2011.