HOTSOUR-SOUP-2(SP)       USENET Cookbook       HOTSOUR-SOUP-2(SP)
HOT AND SOUR SOUP
     HOTSOUR-SOUP-2 - 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.
INGREDIENTS (serves 6-8)
     1 cup     bean curd, cut into small cubes.
     1/4 cup   bamboo shoot, shredded
     1/4 cup   golden needles (tiger lily pods)
     2 Tbsp    wood ear fungus shredded
     1/4 cup   black mushroom
     1         egg, well beaten
     4 oz      very lean pork, shredded
          MIXTURE A
     1 tsp     light soy sauce
     1 tsp     cornstarch
          MIXTURE B
     6 cups    chicken stock
     1 1/2 tsp salt
     1 tsp     MSG (optional)
     1 tsp     sugar
          MIXTURE C
     3 Tbsp    cornstarch
     3 Tbsp    water
          MIXTURE D
     2 Tbsp    light soy sauce
     2 Tbsp    vinegar
     1 tsp     sesame oil
     1 tsp     chili oil
     1/2 tsp   black pepper (fresh ground)
     1/2 tsp   white pepper (fresh ground)
     3 Tbsp    scallion, or green onion, chopped
     1 Tbsp    fresh ginger, chopped  (Do not use powdered
               ginger).
PROCEDURE
          (1)  Put the golden needles, wood ear, and 
black mush-
               room to soak in separate bowls of water. 
 It takes
               30 to 60 minutes for them to be ready. 
After soak-
               ing, 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.
          (2)  Meanwhile, prepare mixtures A,C, and 
D.  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.
          (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.  (1/4 inch square by 1-2 inches) 
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.
          (4)  Marinate the pork in mixture A for 15 
minutes.
               Then use 2 Tbsp oil to stir-fry the meat 
until the
               color changes.  Set the meat aside.
          (5)  Shred and cube the other ingredients.
          (6)  Bring mixture B to a boil and add the 
black mush-
               room, bamboo shoots, wood ear, bean curd, 
and gol-
               den noodles.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Add 
the meat,
               then add mixture C.  Add the beaten egg 
while
               stirring to disperse the egg in sheets 
and fila-
               ments.  Add mixture D, and cook another 
minute.
          (7)  Serve hot.
NOTES
     Bean curd must be fresh.  If you cannot get it 
fresh, omit
     it.
     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.
     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 D and mixture 
B.  Changing
     the ratios inside mixture D 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 dif-
     ferent kinds of fungus and bamboo.  Adding other 
mild veget-
     ables is usually a success.
RATING
     Difficulty: easy but tedious.  Time: 1-2 hours 
(lots of
     preparation, little cooking) Precision: measure 
the
     ingredients.
CONTRIBUTOR
     Rob Horn
     Infinet, Inc., North Andover, Massachusetts, USA
     {decvax, seismo!harvard}!wanginst!infinet!rhorn
     From: jeff@rtech (Jeff Lichtman)
     Newsgroups: mod.recipes
     Subject: RECIPE: (Monterey) Jack Jubilee
     Date: 16 Jan 86 08:32:16 GMT
     Organization: Relational Technology Inc., Alameda, 
CA
     Approved: reid@glacier.ARPA
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