This is one of those soups that I grew up eating. When we went out to eat we frequented the multitude of Chinese food restaurants in the Northern Virginia area because my parents worked and lived overseas for a number of years. When I was really young I always ordered Wonton Soup, but as I grew older I developed a taste for the amazing blend of heat and vinegar that you find in Hot and Sour soup.
I have never actually made this for service in any of the restaurants I worked in over the years, but have always wanted to. Since I have plenty of time on my hands during this pandemic I decided to broaden my skill set by making my own version of this soup. I scanned through a couple of different recipes to develop this version. One of the nice things about a soup like this, is that the ingredients vary significantly in each version. At the end of the day, what you are looking for is a soup that is lightly thickened with cornstarch, balanced heat from pepper & chili oil pepper, and sour from black vinegar. This base carries the various ingredients that you are using. This soup can be made vegetarian by changing the broth and omitting the pork, but if you are doing so you would want to bulk up the vegetables and seasonings.
In this version I used a blend of shiitakes, enokis, wood ears, and black fungus for the mushrooms; with bamboo shoots, scallions, pork, tofu, and then finished with egg. Though the amount of items seems overwhelming this is another one of those soups that is built on the broth you create for it, rather than building the soup from your ingredients. There are a couple of steps that you do for this soup in advance, to make it easy to cook. Additionally, the last step of making this soup is to add mixed eggs to the soup while stirring it. You want to have the soup strongly seasoned prior to this step, because the eggs will lower the salt, heat, and acid of the soup.
Ingredients
Chicken Stock 4 qt
Garlic cloves, peeled 8 ea
Ginger root, peeled and chopped 4 oz
Pork Loin* 1/2 lb
Black Fungus Strips 1 cup
Dehydrated Shiitakes 1 cup
Dehydrated Wood Ear Mushrooms 1 cup
Black Vinegar 1 1/2 cups
Chili Oil 1/2 cup**
Rice Wine 1 cup
Bamboo Shoots, drained and sliced 4 oz
Scallions, sliced 1 bunch
Cornstarch 1 cup
Tofu, extra firm 1 block
Water 1/2 cup
Soy Sauce 1 cup
White Pepper 2 T
Eggs, mixed 1 per 3 portions
Garnish
Thinly sliced scallions
Method of Procedure
Take your chicken stock and add your scallion whites, garlic cloves, ginger, soy sauce, black vinegar, rice wine, and any chicken bones you have on hand to fortify the broth. Bring it to a quick boil, and drop to a simmer. Let it cook for about 2 hours (more if you are adding bones). Strain and return to heat in your soup pot.
While your broth is getting made, slice and freeze your pork loins. Once frozen remove and slice into thin strips.
Mix 1/2 cup of cornstarch with 1 T of white pepper. Toss the frozen strips on pork into the cornstarch mixture. Add 1 T of chili oil and keep mixing. Let stand for at least 30 minutes.
Soak your dehydrated mushrooms and fungus in cold water for about 1 hour until reconstituted. Strain the mushrooms and discard the water. Slice your shitakes, and your wood ears. Remove the stems that are still hard.
Take your tofu block and slice it in half then place it on a sheet tray. Cover with another sheet tray and put weight on the block to remove the extra water. Keep it pressed for about 2 hours, until the majority of water has been remove from the block. Discard the water and slice the tofu into cubes.
Once your broth is returned to heat bring it up to a boil. Add your reconstituted mushrooms, coated pork, and bamboo shoots. Let cook for about 10 minutes and reduce to a simmer.
Add your enokis and remaining chili oil. Let simmer for about 1 hour and taste.
Depending on your flavor profile add more pepper, chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar.
Mix your 1/2 cup of water and cornstarch into a slurry.
Bring your soup back up to a light boil and stir your slurry into the mixture to thicken it. DO NOT pour the slurry in at once, as it can clump and give you an unpleasant texture.
Once your soup is thickened portion out what you would use into a smaller soup pot and bring to a light boil again. Taking your whisked eggs, slowly add them into the soup while stirring. Garnish with the greens of your sliced scallions and serve.
*I used pork loin for this, because it is easy to slice into the appropriate size, you can use other cuts depending on what's available at your market
**Chili oil is very spicy. If you like less heat in your soup, lower the quantity and start with that. Remember you can always add more, you can't take it out.
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