Hot and Sour Soup

Name: Hot and Sour Soup
Yield: Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 7 ounces, extra-firm tofu, drained; 4 tablespoons, soy sauce; 1 teaspoon, toasted sesame oil; 3 tablespoons, cornstarch, plus an additional 1 1/2 teaspoons; 1 , boneless, center-cut, pork loin chop (1/2 inch thick, about 6 ounces), trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch by 1/8-inch matchsticks; 3 tablespoons, cold water, plus 1 additional teaspoon; 1 , large egg; 6 cups, low-sodium chicken broth; 1 cup, bamboo shoots (from one 5-ounce can), sliced lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick strips; 4 ounces, fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 cup); 5 tablespoons, Chinese black vinegar or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see note below); 2 teaspoons, chili oil (see note below); 1 teaspoon, ground white pepper; 3 , medium scallions, sliced thin

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated January/February 2006, America's Test Kitchen TV

SERVES6 to 8 as an appetizer

TIME1 hour

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

To get deep, complex heat, we created the "hot" side of the soup with two heat sources—a full teaspoon of distinctive, penetrating white pepper and a little chili oil. To create the “sour” side, we settled on 5 tablespoons of Chin...

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