I really love the stuff and could have it for a late breakfast-early lunch almost everyday. It does for me what chicken soup does for many others. If anyone makes it at home with a favorite recipie, I would appreciate if you would share. Thanks.
You need to use pickled Chinese vegetables, which Chinatown shops sell in cans.
Or you can do carry-out from my shop.
I see Victor is his usual helpful self.
I don’t remember where I got this recipe but I do like it. I’m sure there are a lot of different versions.
Rehydrate
1/3 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup dried woodear mushrooms
1/4 cup dried lily flowers
Marinate
1/2 lb pork loin cut into thin strips
1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
Soup
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 green onions chopped
2 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
6 cups water
1/2 block (8 oz) firm tofu, cubed
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon sesame oil
-
Gently rinse dried shiitake mushrooms, dried wood ear mushrooms, and lily flowers with tap water. Soak each of them with 2 cups warm water in three big bowls. Rehydrate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until tender. Slice mushrooms into strips. Snip off the tough ends of lily flowers and discard. Remove tough ends of wood ear mushrooms, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the marinating water from lily flower and shiitake mushrooms, 2 cups in total.
-
Combine pork, Shaoxing wine, salt and cornstarch in a bowl. Mix well by hand. Marinate for 10 - 15 minutes.
-
Add Chinkiang vinegar and white pepper into a small bowl. Mix well until the white pepper is completely dissolved.
-
Add water, ginger, and green onion into a pot and heat over medium-high heat. Use 2 cups of the marinating liquid from step one plus 4 cups water.
-
Add rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lily flowers, and tofu to the pot. Cook until bringing to a simmer. Add soy sauce and turn to medium-low heat.
-
Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water in a bowl until cornstarch is fully dissolved. Slowly swirl the cornstarch slurry into the soup. Stir to thicken the soup.
-
Add the pork from step one into the soup, stirring several times to prevent the pork strips from sticking together. Add the salt. Slowly swirl in the beaten egg and stir well. The egg should be scattered and not clotted.
-
Remove the pot from stove. Add the vinegar and pepper mixture and stir to mix well.
-
Drizzle with sesame oil. Stir and taste soup. Add more salt if needed.
That might be the Omnivore’s Cookbook recipe. They also point out that using pork is not essential so you can omit the “marinate” step to make it vegetarian, or you can replace pork with another protein like shrimp with excellent results.
There’s a Japanese variation (called suuraatanmen, I think) that is basically ramen with this soup as the broth. It’s filling but super good.