Recipe - Hot-Sour Soup

3 Or
4 Dried black mushrooms
One fourth pound Lean pork
2 Bean curd cubes
1 Scallion
1 Egg
2 tablespoon Cornstarch
One fourth cup Water
5 cup Stock (see recipe)
1 cup Mushroom soaking liquid
1 tablespoon Sherry
2 tablespoon White vinegar
Three fourths (up to)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Soy sauce
One fourth teaspoon Pepper
3 dr Sesame oil; more or less

1. Soak dried mushrooms. Reserve soaking liquid.

2. Sliver mushrooms, pork and bean curd. Mince scallion. Beat egg
lightly. Blend cornstarch and cold water to a paste.

3. Bring stock and mushroomsoaking liquid to a boil. Add pork and
mushrooms and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

4. Add bean curd and simmer, covered, 3 minutes more.

5. Stir in sherry, vinegar, salt, soy sauce and pepper. Thicken with
cornstarch paste.

6. Slowly add beaten egg, stirring gently once or twice. Remove from
heat. Sprinkle with sesame oil and minced scallion.

VARIATIONS: For the pork, use half whitemeat chicken and half pork.

For the white vinegar, substitute wine or cider vinegar, or lemon juice.

For the sesame oil, substitute Tabasco Sauce.

In step 3, add with pork and mushrooms, One half cup bamboo shoots, slivered;
or 4 cloudear mushrooms and One fourth cup lily buds (both soaked and cut in
half).

Omit vinegar and pepper. (It's then called "Mandarin Soup.")

From The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook, ISBN 0517658704. Downloaded
from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.