Stacey's Hot & Sour Soup Recipe

Absolutely necessary:

• regular mushrooms from the produce department at Safeway (how many depends on how much other stuff you have)
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 Knorr beef boullion cube (I've tried other brands & think Knorr is best. And I'd also stick with beef. The vegie ones or the chicken ones don't seem to have the same oomph)
• corn starch
• hot oil (see comments)
• black pepper
• vinegar (regular or rice, not the wine or red stuff)
• brown sugar
• eggs

Would be nice to have

• Fresh Shitake mushrooms from Cosentino's. 2 usually does it. At $14.98/lb, 2 is plenty. Soup isn't the same without them, though. I never make soup without them.
• 1 can straw mushrooms (also from Cosentino's or Asian grocery)
• Fungus (see notes)
• 1 boneless pork chop or similar cut of pork - if you eat meat. Soup doesn't suffer from not having it. Then again, I don't eat a lot of meat so don't trust my judgement on that.
• Tamari (see notes)
• Enoke mushrooms (in small quantities)
• Oyster mushrooms (in smaller quantities)
• bamboo shoots
• mini-ears of corn

Instructions

1. Boil water. I'm guessing this is an average sized sauce pan - whatever that means. I don't know how big my pan is at home so I'm doing measurements based on one full pot of soup for that pan.
2. Add 1 Knorr beef boullion cube, about 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce. Maybe a touch more. A small handfull brown sugar...well, ok. Maybe 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar. And a touch of Tamari. And a couple sprinkles of hot oil. Let it boil then taste it to see if it seems right as a base.
3. Add pork cut into long, thin strips. Let it boil until it's white.
4. If you're adding mini-ears of corn or bamboo shoots, this is the time to do it. They take longer to cook than the rest of the ingredients. Watch Star Trek or the news until these are done.
5. Add mushrooms. Regular mushrooms should be sliced. Shitake mushrooms sliced. Add all the other kinds of mushrooms. Fungus probably came dried so put it in small bowl in the microwave for about a minute to rehydrate it before cutting & adding to the soup. Let everything cook for a bit.
6. Taste. If it seems too thin (flavor-wise, not texture-wise) add Tamari and/or soy sauce.
7. Now for the real flavor. Add a couple shakes of white pepper, 3-4 of black pepper & about 5-6 shakes of Hot Oil. This comes out to a little under a teaspoon of hot oil. Also add the vinegar at this time. Around 1/4 cup is fine but add to taste. Mix the soup, let it cook for a few more minutes then see if it tastes right. Add hot (oil + pepper) or sour (vinegar) to taste.
8. Time to make it thick. Put cornstarch in a small bowl (several tablespoons) & dissolve into cold water. Add to soup & watch it thicken.
9. Add eggs. To get them stringy, break the eggs into a bowl & just break the yolk. Then pour the eggs slowly into the rapidly boiling soup. Don't stir. Wait a couple minutes for the eggs to get half cooked then stir slowly.
10. Add scallions (cut into very small minced pieces) & that's it.

Ingredient notes

Ever eat Kung Pao Chicken? Szechwan Shrimp? Remember those very hot peppers that once you eat them, you know it for the next 20 minutes? Hot oil is distilled from those peppers. Real hot oil is difficult to find. It's most often combined with sesame oil and/or garlic flavoring which adds a burnt taste to the soup. Very strange. I always keep an eye out for it & buy several bottles when I see it in a store. Good places to look: Cosentino's has some hot oil right now complete with the pepper seeds in the bottom. Szechwan sauce might be a good alternative as well.

All the mushrooms can be found at Cosentinos. (can you tell what my fave grocery store is yet?) Fresh shitake is much better than the dried ones though you can sometimes get large bags of the dried ones very cheaply at Costco.

Cosentinos does not have fungus. Try Yao Han on Saratoga (just S of 280) or Marina Foods in Cupertino. Marina has a better selection & a better chance of finding a clerk who speaks English if you are trying to figure out what you're buying. The label really does say Fungus - if you are lucky enough to find a package that's in English. Marina has a wide variety of kinds...I tend towards the blacker ones. Some varieties are brownish. Cloud Ear mushrooms are sometimes in the same area & they are good, too.

Tamari is gourmet soy sauce. It's not as heavy as regular soy sauce & has a richer flavor. I like a combination of the two. Start with regular soy sauce then use Tamari to touch it off. Tamari also has lower sodium. Tamari can be found at Cosentino's or any Asian grocery store. It's almost mainstream.