This soup is our family’s equivalent of “Grandma’s chicken soup.” It’s wonderful when you have a cold or just need some “comfort in a bowl.” The original recipe is from “Quick and Easy: Enjoy Chinese Cuisine” by Judy Lew.

This recipe serves 4 to 6 people. I generally make a jumbo pot of this soup to feed the whole family plus have leftovers. Also, that way I can use full packages of ingredients like bamboo shoots because I find partial cans often go unused. So feel free to adjust the amounts upwards!

Hot and Sour Soup

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup slivered pork (you could also use minced pork or sliced chicken thighs)

1/4 cup slivered bamboo shoots

2 Chinese mushrooms (soaked, rinsed and sliced thin) or fresh Shiitake mushrooms sliced thin

a few cloud ears (tree ears) soaked, rinsed and thinly sliced

1/2 cube tofu sliced into thin strips

1/2 teaspoon white pepper or to taste

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

chili sauce to taste (I use toban djan, guilin chili sauce or chili garlic sauce - any chili sauce that has a deep rich flavour)

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons preserved Szechuan vegetable, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Combine the stock, pork, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and cloud ears. Bring to a boil and cook for at least 5 minutes, stirring to break up the pork.

2. Reduce heat and spoon off any foam/scum on the surface. Soup should look fairly clear.

3. Add tofu and cook gently for a few minutes.

4. Add white pepper, rice vinegar and chili sauce. Add egg and stir to distribute.

5. Stir gently and bring back up to a slow boil. Add preserved vegetable.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning (I find the vinegar evaporates quite quickly so you may need to add more).

7. Add green onions and sesame oil just before serving.

As Rachael says “yum-o!”