Sams Sweet And Hot Soup Recipes

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Put the wood ears in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Drain and rinse the wood ears; discard any hard clusters in the centers.
• Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add the ginger, chili paste, wood ears, bamboo shoots, and pork; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the Chinese Chicken Stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.
• Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix the slurry into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving.
• Put the chicken in a large stockpot and place over medium heat. Toss in the green onions, garlic, ginger, onion, and peppercorns. Pour about 3 quarts of cold water into the pot to cover the chicken by 1-inch. Simmer gently for 1 hour, uncovered, skimming off the foam on the surface periodically.
• Carefully remove the chicken from the pot and pass the stock through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to remove the solids and excess fat. Cool the chicken stock to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator, or chill it down over ice first.
• Yield: About 2 quarts

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, brown pork in oil until no longer pink; remove meat and keep warm. Add mushrooms; saute until tender. Set aside and keep warm. , Add the broth, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Return the meat and mushrooms to the pan. Stir in the tofu, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes., In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in sesame oil. Garnish servings with onions.

HOMEMADE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a 2-quart saucepan. Add mushrooms, chicken, soy sauce, chile paste, and garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add tofu, bamboo shoots, vinegar, and white pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Combine water and cornstarch in a cup; stir until smooth. Add mixture to the soup and stir well. Let simmer until soup thickens, about 5 minutes more.
• Beat egg in a cup and slowly pour, in a fine stream, into the soup. Stir well and heat through for 30 seconds. Mix in green onions and sesame oil. Remove from heat; serve hot.

SWEET-AND-SOUR SHRIMP SOUP

Steps:

• To make the broth, peel the shrimp, saving the shells (about 5 cups). Refrigerate the shrimp. In a heavy pot, heat the oil over high heat. When nearly smoking, add the shells, lemongrass, ginger and chili powder and toss for 3 minutes, or until the shells are toasted. Add 8 cups water and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, or until reduced by half. Strain the broth through a fine sieve, pressing down on the shells to extract liquid. (You should have 5 cups; if you have less add water to equal 5 cups.) Discard solids.
• To make the soup, return the broth to the pot. Add the sesame oil, pineapple and fish sauce and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add the scallions, lime juice, sugar, and 1 pound of the reserved shrimp. (Save the rest for another use.) Heat until the shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the cilantro and serve.