Chinese Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣汤), Two Ways

To me, sour soups are the giant teddy bears of the culinary world; the fuzzy socks of the gastronomic experience. They’re the dishes I’d want someone to prepare for me if I were feeling under the weather. Alas, I have, in fact, recovered from a long bout of cold, but instead of being served soup in bed, I found myself in the kitchen preparing it. Oh well, one can dream!

I have long enjoyed making Thai tom yum, with its warm and yet cooling broth of lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves, transformed at the last minutes of cooking by the addition of freshly pressed lime juice. Looking for new ways to experiment with the transformative potential of adding acid to soups, I decided to see what other culinary traditions had to offer.

My first stop is China. I read many recipes for Chinese hot and sour soup before finally sketching out my own, making a few substitutions to fit my dietary needs.

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup couldn’t be more different from its Thai counterpart, but it delights and surprises the taste buds in the same ineffable way. Whereas tom yum feels light and cooling to the palate, even when piping hot, Chinese Hot and Sour soup is earthy and warming. The earthiness comes from the broth, made from soaking dried mushrooms and the dried buds of day lilies (also called golden needles). The acidity comes from Chinkiang / Zhenjiang vinegar, an aged black vinegar made from the fermentation of glutinous rice and other starches. Its heat comes the eye-popping quantities of white pepper that are mixed into the broth, along with the vinegar, just before serving.

The Hot-and-Sour Soup Trifecta

Dry ingredients for Chinese hot and sour soup: shiitake mushrooms (top), wood ear fungus (bottom left) and dried lily flowers (bottom right)

Re-hydrated ingredients for Chinese hot and sour soup: dried lily flowers (top left), wood ear fungus (top right) and shiitake (bottom)

Black Wood Ear Mushroom (黑木耳)
(Auricularia auricula-judae)

The black wood ear mushroom is a type of edible fungus that grows on wood in temperate regions around the globe. In the West, it has mainly been used medicinally, but in China, it also enjoys an important place in the culinary canon. You can find dried wood ear mushrooms at Chinese markets with other dried and preserved ingredients. Before use, they should be washed, and then rehydrated in cold water (or warm water if you are short on time). Dried wood ear mushrooms tend to be quite dirty, so it is also a good idea to cook them before using. Once rehydrated, they have a delicious chewy texture that works well in soups and stews.
Also called: wood ear fungus, jew’s ear, jelly ear

Dried Lily Flowers (黄花)
(Hemerocallis citrina)

These straw-like yellow strips are the dried buds of day lilies. Look for them in cellophane packaged in the dry ingredients section of Chinese markets. Dried lily flowers should be washed and then soaked prior to use. Once rehydrated, you may also want to cut off the tough end of the bud. They lend an earthy, floral aroma to dishes.
Also called: lily buds, golden needles (金針)

Dried Shiitake (香菇)
(Lentinula edodes)

Shiitake are a type of edible mushroom that grow on the dead wood of various species of deciduous trees in warm, moist regions of East Asia. The name shiitake (椎茸) comes from the Japanese shii (椎), a deciduous tree native to parts of Japan and Korea, and take (茸), mushroom. Shiitake have grown in popularity and are now cultivated in many parts of the world. You can find them, both fresh and dried, in Asian groceries, but also, increasingly, in health food stores and large supermarkets. I like to use the fresh ones for quick soups and stir fries, but the dried ones have a deeper, more intense flavour that lends itself well to making broth. The rehydrated mushrooms have a meaty, chewy texture.

Bamboo Shoots

Bamboo shoots give a light, crunchy texture to this soup, which contrasts nicely with the chewy broth ingredients and the thick broth. For the best taste and texture, I recommend preparing your own bamboo shoots, as I detailed in the previous post. However, fresh bamboo shoots are harder to source and time consuming to prepare. The second best option is to buy vacuum-packed bamboo shoots, sometimes found in Asian groceries (I sometimes see them at my local Japanese grocery). Of course, if neither of these options are available, you can use canned bamboo shoots for this recipe, too.

A Note about Vinegar

Chinese hot and sour soup usually calls for Chinkiang / Zhenjiang black vinegar. Unfortunately, it is very hard to come by Chinkiang vinegar that does not contain wheat, added sugars and/or additives. For this recipe, I opted instead for a blend of (clear) rice vinegar, and balsamic vinegar. However, if you happen to come across it, I have heard that Hengshun is a very good brand of authentic Chinkiang vinegar, and I do not believe that it contains gluten. If someone knows more, please let me know!

Joëlle

Serves 2

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣汤)

An earthy, soul-warming dish, Chinese hot and sour soup delights and surprises the taste buds, with its thick broth, its rainbow of textures, and an undercurrent of rich vinegar spiced with white pepper. Paleo-friendly.

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Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1/2 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp shio koji
For the Broth
• 2 dried shiitake mushroom
• 10 dried lily flowers
• 5-6 Wood ear fungus
• 4 cups water, divided
For the Soup
• 1 tsp ginger (or more!)
• 1/3 cup bamboo shoots, sliced
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1/2 pack shimeji mushroom
• 2 baby bok choy
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
For Garnishing
• Toasted sesame oil
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• Cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Rinse dried lily flowers and wood ear mushroom under cold water and put them in separate bowls.
2. Bring water to a boil and pour half the water into each of the bowls. Add shiitake mushroom to the bowl with the lily flowers.
3. Let the ingredients rehydrate for at least 30 minutes, but preferably longer.
4. Cut pork tenderloin into thin slices and put them in a resealable plastic bag along with the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and place it in the fridge to marinate for a few hours.
5. Drain the liquid from the rehydrated ingredients, saving the shiitake and lily flower water for the broth and discarding the wood ear water.
6. Cut the shiitake into thin slices and cut the tough ends from the lily flowers.
7. Remove the tough stems from the woodear mushroom and cut them into bite-sized pieces.
8. Pour the shiitake and lily flower water into a pot, along with 1 cup of water
9. Add shiitake, lily flowers, wood ear mushroom, ginger and bamboo shoots.
10. Bring the pot to a boil over medium high-heat. Add tamari and reduce the heat to medium.
11. Meanwhile, mix vinegars and white pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
12. Add shimeji and cook for a few minutes. Add the pork into the soup, stirring as it cooks to keeps the pieces from sticking together.
13. Add bok choy, and then slowly stir in the beaten eggs.
14. Remove the pot from the heat. Combine arrowroot starch and 2 tbsp of cold water in a small bowl to make a slurry, and slowly mix it into the soup to thicken it.
15. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir vinegar and pepper mixture into the soup, and serve, with a drizzle of sesame oil, scallion slices and cilantro leaves.

Notes

Shio koji (塩麹) is a lacto-fermented mixture of rice koji (rice inoculated with aspergillus oryzae spore -- the basis for many well-know Japanese ferments such as miso, sake and soy sauce). It provides enzymes and probiotics while imparting the dish with a unique umami flavour. You can substitute sea salt, himalayan salt or fish sauce. To learn more about shio koji, how to make it at home, and how to use it in the kitchen, click here.

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https://www.joellegaudet.com/2019/03/03/chinese-hot-and-sour-soup/

A Variation for Hungry Meat Lovers

I don’t know about you, but I find tenderloin to be just about the least exciting cut of pork available. And it’s not the cheapest either. The second time I made this soup, I was at the butcher’s looking unenthusiastically at the price tag on those unsavory lumps of lean meat, and I asked instead, in a burst of inspiration, for a nice slab of pork shoulder. I love pork shoulder because, at a more affordable price, you end up with a much more juicy and flavourful product. The downside, of course, is time, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to pay! If you’re in mood for a richer soup, and are not in a hurry to get dinner on the table, here is a delectable variation on the above recipe.

1. Prepare the dry ingredients (Steps 1, 2, 3 and 5)
2. Generously salt pork shoulder, preferably hours before cooking. Store in the fridge until about 1 hour before cooking.
3. Set your Instant Pot to Saute mode.
4. When the Instant Pot is hot, add a generous glug of cooking fat (I used tallow) and spread it around the bottom of the liner.
5. Brown pork shoulder on all sides (about 5-6 minutes per side). Set browned meat aside on cutting board.
6. Deglaze the pot with dry sherry or rice wine, and press Cancel on the Instant Pot to turn off Saute mode.
7. Cut pork shoulder into large cubes (roughly 6cm³) and add them back to the pot, along with the broth from step 5 and 1 cup of water.
8. Twist the Instant Pot lid on. Making sure the Steam Release Handle is turned to the Sealing position, set the Pressure Cook program to cook for 30 minutes on high pressure, with natural release (for at least 15 minutes).
9. When the pressure has been fully released from the Instant Pot, remove the lid and transfer the chunks of pork to a large mixing bowl with a slotted spoon.
10. Transfer the Instant Pot liner to the stove top.
11. Shred the pork into bite-sized pieces with two forks and add them back to the pot.
12. Continue with steps 6-7 and 9-15 of the original recipe.

Guidance and Inspiration

Omnivore’s Cookbook — Authentic Hot and Sour Soup

❤ Thank you Maggie!