Hot and Sour Soup

Method

1. Soak the dried shiitake and wood ear in warm water for 30 min. Cut the stems off the shiitake and slice the caps into thin strips; trim the hard base from the wood ear and shred it finely. Wood ear swells to 5–6 times its size, so resist adding more.

   Add in this stepDried shiitake mushrooms 3Dried wood ear mushrooms 5 g

2. Cut the pork along the grain into matchsticks about 5 cm long and 0.5 cm thick, then mix with the soy sauce and cornstarch listed here; the starchy coating keeps the meat tender. Cut the tofu and bamboo shoots into matchsticks of the same size, and rinse the bamboo under cold water to remove the canned taste.

   Add in this stepPork shoulder or loin 80 gLight soy sauce 1 tspCornstarch 0.6 tbsp

3. Put the stock, shiitake, wood ear and bamboo shoots in a 18 cm pot and bring to the boil on high heat, about 6 min. Once it boils, turn down to medium-low heat and simmer for 3 min to draw out the mushroom flavour.

   Add in this stepChicken stock 600 mlBamboo shoots (canned or vacuum-packed) 60 g

   high heat→medium-low heat

4. Drop in the pork a few strands at a time and separate them straight away with chopsticks. Cook on medium heat for 2 min, until the meat is white with no pink left. Add the tofu, both soy sauces and the sugar, then season with salt. Tofu breaks easily, so push it gently with the ladle rather than stirring hard.

   Add in this stepFirm tofu 120 gLight soy sauce 3 tspDark soy sauce 1 tspSugar ½ tspSalt to taste

   medium heat

5. Mix the cornstarch and water into a smooth slurry (it settles quickly, so stir again just before using). Stir the soup slowly in one direction while pouring in the slurry in a thin stream, then cook on medium heat for 1 min, until the soup turns glossy and is thick enough to thinly coat the back of a spoon.

   Add in this stepCornstarch 1.9 tbspWater (for the slurry) 4 tbsp

   medium heat

6. Turn the heat down to low heat and beat the egg well. Stir the soup slowly in one direction to make a gentle whirlpool, then drizzle in the egg in a thin stream, letting it run down a chopstick. Leave it for about 10 seconds before stirring gently, so the egg sets into delicate ribbons.

   Add in this stepEgg 1

   low heat

7. Turn off the heat, stir in the black vinegar, white pepper and sesame oil, then taste and add more vinegar or pepper if you like. Adding vinegar off the heat keeps its aroma. Ladle into bowls, scatter with sliced spring onions and serve piping hot.

   Add in this stepChinese black vinegar (Chinkiang) 3 tbspGround white pepper ¾ tspToasted sesame oil 1 tspSpring onions 1