Name: Hot and Sour Soup (Suan La Tang)
Yield: Serves 6 as part of a multicourse meal
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon cornstarch; ½ small carrot, cut into thin matchstick strips; 1 large wood ear mushroom; 1 green onion (scallion), trimmed and cut into small rounds, to garnish; 1¾ cups (425 ml) homemade Chicken Stock or 1 can (14 oz/400 g) store-bought chicken broth; ½ tablespoon Chili oil or to taste; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 3 tablespoons water; 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar or to taste; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1½ teaspoons Chinese rice vinegar or to taste; 4 oz (100 g) soft or medium tofu, rinsed and cut into strips; 1½ cups (375 ml) water; ½ teaspoon Chinese rice wine or sherry; 4 oz (100 g) pork, cut into thin strips; ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste; ½ heaping teaspoon white pepper; 2 oz (50 g) canned bamboo shoots, rinsed and cut into thin matchstick strips; 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preparation info

Serves
6
as part of a multicourse meal

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Easy Chinese Recipes

By Bee Yinn Low

Published 2011

About

Hot and Sour Soup is Sichuan in origin. Situated in the Southwestern part of China, the province of Sichuan is famed for its fiery hot cuisine. This Hot and Sour Soup is, therefore, piquant, peppery (from the white pepper), and sharp (from the tartness of the Chinese vinegars).

I love to zest up my Hot and Sour Soup with some homemade Chili Oil, which not only adds a nice red sheen to the soup, but also makes it even more appetizing.