Chinese Hot and Sour Soup Lite

This recipe helped me with my diet and also helped me to stretch my dollar through the lean college years. It's an adaptation from another recipe for vegetarians and those pursuing a healthier lifestyle.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Yields: 6 quarts

Ingredients

• 10  cups fat-free chicken broth
• 1  tablespoon  garlic and red chile paste
• 2  tablespoons soy sauce
• 1  cup shiitake mushroom, sliced and stems removed
• 1  cup  straw mushroom, sliced
• 1⁄3 cup white vinegar
• 1⁄2 cup bamboo shoot, julienned
• 1 (12 ounce) package  of light firm tofu, diced or cut into thin strips
• 1⁄2 cup water chestnut, sliced
• 3  tablespoons cornstarch
• 1⁄2 cup Egg Beaters egg substitute or 1⁄2 cup  just the whites  egg white

Directions

1. Using an 8-qt dutch oven, bring 8 cups of fat-free chicken broth to a simmer.
2. Add the soy sauce, mushrooms and chile paste and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the vinegar, julienned bamboo shoots, sliced water chestnuts, and tofu and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
4. In a separate container, mix the 3 Tbsp of cornstarch with the remaining 2 cups of broth.
5. When cornstarch and broth are throughly combined, STIR in the cornstarch mixture into your hot soup (WARNING: Do this SLOWLY as the cornstarch has a tendency to"clump" once it makes contact with the hot soup).
6. Bring back to simmer and then pour the Egg Beaters thinly over the soup to create an"egg drop soup" effect.