Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup Recipe

I’m finally finding my “kitchen legs” again. I joke that my new kitchen “was built by people who hate to cook for people who hate to cook.” Its poor layout, and lack of counter and storage space are really not meant for someone who loves cooking as much as I do. But now I live in the city center where space it at a premium, so that’s how it is, and I’m slowly getting back into cooking, even if it does feel like I spend more time climbing up and down a step ladder to gather everything I need, than I do in front of the stove!

One thing I love about living where I do now is that I have much better access to “exotic” ingredients, so I’m finally able to revisit recipes I’d abandoned since moving here. I’ve got four Asian markets within walking distance, which is fortunate since American style Chinese takeaway has not found its way to Denmark.

I love hot & sour soup, but even in the US, it often had pork in it, so I had to make my own. Now with such easy access to so many Asian markets, I’ve been able to dust off my recipe…

This is seriously easy, seriously delicious, and slimming ;-)

6-8 dried wood ear mushrooms

175g tofu, in small cubes

1/2 t + 3T cornstarch

1 t marsala wine

4 cups veggie stock

1 medium carrot, cut into thin strips

150g bamboo shoot strips

7 t soy sauce

7 t black vinegar

1 T rice vinegar

1/2 t white pepper

3/4 t salt

2 t chili oil

2 t sesame oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

spring onions

Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the mushrooms and set them aside. My wood ear mushrooms were labelled “black fungus” which is totally unappetizing, but if you can’t find wood ear mushrooms, they might be called black fungus. I cross referenced with the latin name, “auricularia auricula-judae” to be sure.

Sprinkle 1/2 t cornstarch over the tofu cubes, then toss them with 1 t marsala wine. Traditionally, you should use mirin, but I have no other uses for mirin, so any sweet wine will do, it’s just to give a bit of flavor to the tofu.

Once the wood ear mushrooms are soft, cut them into thin slices. Combine the soaking water from the mushrooms with the veggie stock in a large pot and and bring it to a boil. Add the tofu cubes, carrots, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk together 3T cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water, then whisk in the soy sauce, black vinegar, rice vinegar, pepper, salt, and oils.

After the 10 minutes are up, turn off the heat, stir in the cornstarch mixture, then slowly add the beaten eggs and give the pot a few stirs so that the egg forms little strings. Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes, then serve it topped with sliced spring onions.

This recipe doesn’t make a lot—it’s about 3 lunches for me. If you need to feed a group—or are big eaters—then it would probably be a good idea to double the recipe.

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