hello there hi everyone! Tonight we're making a soup that I've been eating since I was a kid, which is the Chinese West Lake Soup. West Lake soup is essentially an egg drop soup with a couple extra steps that make it a bit more hearty and flavorful. More specifically the version we're copying today is my best attempt at hacking the soup from the San Francisco restaurant "Dragon House." This place closed down a few years ago, but I used to eat here every couple of weeks with my family when I was younger.

Freshen up on the recipe here, bookmark the stream here, and pick up the ingredients below if you want to follow along and cook dinner with me.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)

• 8 oz ground beef

• 4 shiitake mushrooms

• 1 lb soft tofu

• 4 egg whites

• 1 cup cilantro

• 4 cups homemade stock + 2 cups water (or 6 cups stock from bouillon)

• corn starch

INGREDIENTS (marinade)

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 2 tbsp sesame oil

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 tbsp white pepper

• 2 tbsp shaoxing wine

• kosher salt