Hot and Sour Soup is a classic Chinese and Asian dish with many variants according to different regional preferences.  This is a vegetarian version based on TasteHongKong.com, relatively straightforward to prepare and quite tasty.

Ingredients

5 pcs dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated
5 pcs dried black fungus, also know as wood ear, rehydrated
1 fresh bamboo shoot
1 carrot
2 oz soft tofu, cut into bite size rectangular slabs
3-5 slices fresh ginger
6 cups mushroom stock from soaking mushrooms
2 tsp canola oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp black vinegar, also known as Chekiang vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp chili bean sauce
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 tsp sesame oil
corn starch paste (2 tsp corn starch : 4 tsp water)

Preparation

Rinse the dried mushrooms and black fungus, also known as wood ear, then soak them in 3 cups of water overnight. Squeeze water from mushrooms and reserve water from soaking. Remove and discard stems (retain 3 mushrooms for this soup and reserve the remaining for other uses, like making noodles or stir fries).

Julienne the ginger, carrot and bamboo shoot.  Thinly slice the mushrooms, tofu, and cloud ear. To slice the cloud ear, roll it up and slice the roll.  All the ingredients should be shredded as thin as possible.

Heat a pot over medium heat with a tea spoon of oil. Sauté ginger until fragrant. Toss in mushrooms, carrot, bamboo shoot, and cloud ears. Stir them for a while, 1 to 2 minutes, then pour in stock. Bring it to a boil, then gently lay in tofu.

Season with vinegar, salt, soy sauce, chili bean paste, white pepper, and thicken with corn starch paste. Stir to avoid any lumps.

As soon as the liquid thickened to your liking, turn heat to the lowest level and gently pour a thin layer of beaten egg over the soup using a spoon to guide the egg.  Try to avoid pouring the egg in rapidly as it will sink to the bottom and forming lumps. After a few seconds, quickly stir the egg juice in swirls to create feather-like patterns.

Sprinkle in sesame oil; garnish with coriander. Serve hot.

Adjust the seasoning to your taste, these are on the lighter side.  If you find the soup too sour, try balance it with some sugar.

Nutrition

6 servings