Hi hello! Wesley here. This is a recipe for a hot and sour soup that you'll frequently find as the complimentary soup that you get in a lot of Chinese lunch eateries. More specifically, this version adds to our Bay Area Restaurant Hack series, as it draws its inspiration from the popular Oakland spot Shan Dong.

This soup is often served as a free appetizer cause it's mainly composed of cheap pantry ingredients like shiitake and wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and tofu. For today's version however, I'll be deviating from the original slightly with the addition of some poached and shredded chicken, which I think will be a nice added protein. Hope you try it!

 

serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS (dry)

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 bamboo shoot tip

  • 2 wood ear mushrooms

  • 4 shiitake mushrooms

  • 1 lbs soft tofu

  • 1 chicken breast

  • 3 green onions

  • 2 eggs

INGREDIENTS (wet)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar

  • 2 tbsp doubanjiang

  • 6 cups stock

  • 2 cups water

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

  • 2 tbsp sesame oil

  • 2 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 2 tbsp corn starch slurry

PREP

  • CRUSH AND MINCE the garlic, set aside

  • MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • SLICE bamboo shoots into 1/2 inch planks, set aside

  • SLICE wood ear mushrooms into 1/2 inch strips, set aside

  • SLICE shiitake mushrooms into 1/2 inch strips, set aside

  • LARGE DICE tofu, set aside

  • SLICE green onions on a bias, set aside

  • whisk eggs, set aside

  • combine corn starch with cold water into a slurry, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • ADD all wet ingredients to a stock pot and bring to a boil

  • ADD ginger, garlic and chicken breast, and poach for 20 minutes until fully cooked through at its thickest point

  • REMOVE the chicken breast, and pull into shreds using two forks

  • ADD shedded chicken back to the pot, followed by bamboo shoots, and mushrooms

  • GRADUALLY STIR in eggs until wisps of egg appear

  • ADD tofu and corn starch slurry and stir until combined

  • SERVE with green onions as garnish

 

tagged with woo can cook, hot and sour soup, soup, chinese soup, shredded chicken