Hot-and-sour Soup
Servings 6 to 8, Preparation Time 30 minutes
Hot-and-sour Soup is a very popular soup. I can always find it on the menu in a Chinese restaurant. Its success comes from a little sweetness, sourness, and a little spicy hot kick. There are also many variations of the dish and this is going to be another one. When you are cooking at home you can modify your restaurant favourites to make them a little healthier. The obvious things to do is make your dishes with less sugar, salt, and fat. We can go a little further. In this variation of the Hot-and-sour Soup, we are going to use sweet potato to replace cornstarch as a thickener and to make the soup heartier. The extra antioxidants and beta-carotene of sweet potatoes is our bonus for making the substitution. Lastly, instead of using a couple tablespoons of sesame seed oil, we recommend using the complete seed as found in tahini paste or consider a different seed for a little extra source of oil, like almond butter.
- ¾ cup of shredded cloud ears, also known as black fungus.
- 5 ounces (150g) of golden needles, also known by their Japanese name of Enokitake mushrooms.
- 1 medium to large size sweet potato.
- 1 cup water.
- 3 cups vegetable broth.
- 2 tablespoons of tahini paste or almond butter
- 3 tablespoons of tamari sauce or soy sauce.
- 12 oz (350g) tofu, your choice firm or soft tofu.
- 6 tablespoons of clear or white vinegar such as white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar. Add a little at a time to the soup to reach the point of pleasing your taste buds.
- ¼ cup of sweet sherry. Add a little at a time to the soup to reach the point of pleasing your taste buds.
- 1 tablespoons of sugar. Add a little at a time to the soup to reach the point of pleasing your taste buds.
- ½ teaspoon of hot sauce or chilli seeds. Add a little at a time to the soup to reach the point of pleasing your taste buds. If you sharing with others, you may elect to place the hot spices as table condiments for each person to determine their level of comfort.
- white or black pepper added to taste.
- Optionally, salt added to taste.
- Optionally, 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water.
- 1 cup chopped green onions.
- If you are using dried mushrooms soak them in hot water for 15 minutes or until they have noticeably increased in size and are soft enough to cut. Spread the cloud ears (black fungus). separate the golden needle mushrooms (Enokitake) and cut them in half.
- Peel and cube the sweet potato and boil the potato in the cup of water to soften enough to be made into a mash. You may choose to mash all the sweet potato or part of it, depending on your preference. I recommend mashing at least half of the sweet potato. Retain the cooking water and add it to the soup.
- Bring the vegetable broth to a gentle simmering boil and the tamari sauce and sherry to make the base of your soup.
- Add the fungi and mushrooms to the simmering base.
- Wash, dry, cube the tofu and add to the simmering base.
- Allow the soup to simmer for five to ten minutes to allow the ingredients to cook.
- add your choice of tahini paste or almond butter and remaining cooked and mashed sweet potato into the soup.
- Gradually and in stages add each of the following, vinegar, hot spices, sugar salt, and pepper. Tasting each addition until you are satisfied with the outcome. if the soup is not sweetness for you consider adding a little sugar or another type of sweetener like maple syrup.
- At this point, if the soup does not thicken enough to your liking, you may consider adding a tablespoon or two of starch, like cornstarch. The soup will be hot and your adding cornstarch may create lumps or over thickening. To avoid these dangers, dissolve the starch in a glass of cold water then slowly and gradually stir in the dissolved starch in the soup. Add it a little at a time to give the soup time to thicken.
- Garnish the soup with the chopped green onions when you are ready to serve your Hot-and-sour Soup.
You can be inventive by adding or substituting other mushrooms like Shiitake mushrooms or the humble white button mushroom. Try adding other ingredients to the soup like bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, or bok choy.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Jess Hot Sauce is a flavourful and spicy condiment.
