Hot and Sour Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I was craving Hot & Sour Soup this weekend and found a Mark Bittman recipe that would also work for I Heart Cooking Clubs where our theme this week is Eggs All Day! since there are four egg whites blended into the soup to make streams in the soup.

I adjusted the recipe a bit--using dried shiitake mushrooms plus a mushroom bouillon paste for flavor. I also added about 1 1/2 cups of fresh shiitake mushrooms to make it more satisfying. My changes are in red below.

Hot and Soup Soup Slightly 
Adapted from Mark Bittman via Cooking Light & All-Recipes

(Makes 4 Serving)

5 dried shiitake mushrooms (about 1/4 oz)(I used dried shiitake only)

5 dried wood ear mushrooms (about 1/4 oz)

1 (32-oz) carton fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth (I used mushroom bouillon base)

2 1/4 cups water, divided

1 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tsp minced garlic
(I added 1 1/2 cups of sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 to 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lb reduced-fat firm or extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/4-inch cubes  

2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

4 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1 tsp dark sesame oil (I added toasted sesame seeds)

chili oil (optional)

Place mushrooms in a medium bowl; cover with boiling water. Cover and let stand 10 minutes or until tender; drain. Thinly slice mushrooms; set aside.

Combine broth, 2 cups water, ginger, and garlic in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Add mushrooms. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add vinegar, soy sauce, pepper, and tofu; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Combine remaining 1/4 cup water and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk. Stir cornstarch mixture into broth mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes or until soup thickens slightly, stirring frequently. Slowly pour egg whites into broth mixture in a steady stream, stirring constantly but gently with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat; stir in onions, cilantro, and sesame oil. Drizzle with chili oil, if desired.

 

Notes/Results: This is a really good hot & sour soup--well balanced and full of flavor with the ginger, garlic, rice vinegar and chili oil. It is rich and savory and satifying without being savory. I will happily make it again with my changes.

Linking up at I Heart Cooking Clubs: Eggs All Day!

 Let's take a look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here this week.

 

Shaheen from Allotment2Kitchen is here with Simple Broad Beans, Gnocchi and Mint Salad and says, "Work has been keeping me busy, so I am not going to apologise for using shop brought gnocchi here.  There have been days when I have just wanted to put something quick on the table for supper and this was on one of those evenings. I don't even have a recipe to share here either, as I eye-balled the ingredients and tweaked the flavours to taste, namely mint and lemon.  I will admit though I did somewhat find shelling the broad beans a little therapeutic and satisfying. It made for s nice light meal and one we could have sat out and ate in the garden, but no - we plonked ourselves in front of the TV to watch the Channel 4 News." 

 Mahalo to Shaheen for joining me this week!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!