Hot & Sour Soup

I started with an unlikely choice for me – Hot & Sour Soup. Sharalyn gave me The Moosewood Cookbook a month or so ago, and, in browsing through it, many recipes have caught my eye. I hadn’t even noticed the Hot & Sour Soup recipe, though, until this weekend when I flipped the book open to that page.

Last week I told Rita – whose pregnancy craving has her ordering takeout Hot & Sour Soup from The China Pearl several times a week – that she should figure out how to make it. When she laughed and said that it seemed like too much work, I knew I’d make her some as soon as I could find a recipe. And, like magic, Moosewood offered one up to me.

Since I’ve only ever sampled a taste of Rita’s takeout Hot & Sour Soup, I decided to follow Moosewood’s recipe pretty closely. I made just one change and a few additions. I couldn’t find dried Chinese black mushrooms, so I used dried shitakes instead. I added julienned carrots with the tofu, and I also added thinly sliced cabbage near the end of the cooking time. I prepared everything through step four while the kids napped, and then I turned off the burner and left the pot on the stove. Right before dinner, I brought it to a simmer again and mixed in the eggs and white pepper. After we sat down to eat, I remembered that I had some cilantro. I plucked a handful of leaves and sprinkled them on the soup. It gave it a more interesting flavor and seemed to bring out the sourness. I would definitely add it to the recipe. Rita suggested adding red pepper flakes or some hot pepper to give it more heat, and I agree that it needed a bit more zip. Mike thought it tasted fine, but that it needed more flavor as well.

In addition to the soup, I stir-fried some vegetables using the Basic Stir-Fry Sauce. It had a good flavor, but, like the soup, it would taste better with some heat. I’d add some minced jalapeños or other spicy pepper to the mixture next time.