Recipe - Hot And Sour Tofu Soup

8 md Dry shiitake mushrooms
(about Three fourths oz. total)
1 tablespoon Salad oil
1 Clove garlic, minced or
pressed
1 tablespoon Minced fresh ginger
1 One half qt Regularstrength chicken
broth
1 pound Soft or regular tofu,
rinsed, cut into 1/2inch
cubes, and
Drained well
3 tablespoon Rice vinegar or cider
vinegar
1 One half tablespoon Soy sauce
3 tablespoon Cornstarch
Three fourths To 1 teaspoon white pepper
One half To 1 teaspoon chili oil
(optional)
4 Green onions (ends
trimmed), thinly cut or sliced up
Crisp noodles (recipe
follows)
Crispcreamy peas (recipe
follows)

Soak mushrooms in hot water to cover until soft, about 20 minutes.

Drain; cut off tough stems and discard. Cut caps into thin strips;
set aside.

Pour oil into a 4 to 5quart pan. Place over medium heat and add
garlic and ginger; stir until garlic is light gold. Add broth and
mushrooms; bring to a boil on high heat. Add tofu; cover and simmer
until tofu is hot, 3 to 5 minutes. Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, and
cornstarch until smooth; stir into soup. Cook, stirring, until soup
boils. Add white pepper and chili oil to taste. Stir in onions.
Pour into a tureen. offer noodles and peas to add to taste.

Makes 6 servings.

CRISP NOODLES:

Pour about 1 inch salad oil into a 2 One half to 3quart pan. Heat oil to
350F. Add a handful of fresh Chinese noodles or fresh taglierini
(you'll need 3 oz. total) to oil; fry, turning, until crisp and
golden, about 1 minute. Lift out; drain on paper towels. Repeat to
fry remaining noodles. Serve, or let cool and store airtight for up
to 5 days. Makes 3 cups. Or omit this step and use 1 can (5 oz.) chow
mein noodles.

CRISPCREAMY PEAS:

Rinse and drain 1 can (16 oz.) blackeyed peas. Spread out on a
double layer of paper towels and pat dry. Place beans in a 10 by
15 inch baking pan. Add 1 tablespoon salad oil and mix to coat
beans. Bake in a 400F oven until beans are lightly browned and crisp
on outside, about 15 minutes; stir occasionally. Serve hot or warm.
Makes 1 cup.

Sunset Magazine, 4/89.

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; February 10 1992.

File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/cberg2.zip