“It’s a non-spicy version of Szechuan ‘hot’ & sour soup for the children. It’s not hot.”
Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup, a tasty and fulfilling soup dish, likable by all of us. I thought I should cook without the chilli this time. The cooking method was almost the same, just differed by the addition of heat. My family liked both the spicy and non spicy versions.
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
6 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of tree ear fungus aka cloud ear fungus (Chinese translation: 黑木耳), julienned
1 cup of bamboo shoots, julienned
1 cup of dried shiitake mushroom, soaked and julienned
200 gram pork shoulder part, julienned
1 cup of white bean curd aka tofu, julienned
2 large eggs
3 tablespoon of white vinegar
2 tablespoon of Zhejiang black vinegar (Chinese translation: 浙江黑醋)
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Sprinkle of salt and white pepper
½ cup cornstarch slurry (with 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch and water mixed)
Garnish:
Parsley, chopped
Dash of white pepper
1 teaspoon of black vinegar (Optional)
Method
1) Put chicken broth in a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add meat, Shitake mushroom, bamboo shoots, cloud ear fungus. Reduce fire to low heat, and simmer for 20 min.
2) Add in white vinegar, black vinegar, lemon juice, sesame oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Stir well, and simmer for another 10 min.
3) Stir in cornstarch slurry till consistency is slight thicken.
4) Break eggs in a bowl, briefly beat with serving fork. Slowly swirl eggs into the soup (in few stages). Stir constantly till egg-drop forms strips. Add tofu, and simmer for 1 min. Heat off. Garnish and serve hot.
A serving of this Szechuan thick broth counts about 160kcal.
I thought this soup was suitably catogorized as 1-dish meal, too. :)