Name: Hot and Sour Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Ingredients: 1 boneless chicken breast (cut into thin strips); 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp white wine; 1 tsp cornstarch; 6 cups chicken stock (1.5 liters); ½ cup canned bamboo shoots (cut into thin matchsticks); 4 dried shiitake mushrooms; ½ cup fresh button mushrooms (thinly sliced); 5 oz firm tofu (cut into small cubes); ½ hot red chile (finely chopped); 1 tsp sugar; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp rice vinegar or another mild vinegar (not balsamic or wine vinegar); ½ tsp toasted sesame oil; ½ tsp ground white pepper; 1 tbsp cornstarch (dissolved in ½ cup water); 1 large egg, beaten; 1 scallion (sliced into rings)

How I make it

In a bowl, stir together the soy sauce, white wine and cornstarch for the chicken until the cornstarch dissolves.
Add the chicken strips and toss until well coated. Cover and set aside for about 1 hour.
Soak the shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup warm water for about 1 hour.
Remove the shiitake stems and thinly slice the caps crosswise.
Bring the stock to a boil in a pot. Add the bamboo shoots, both kinds of mushrooms, the tofu and the chile and bring back to a boil.
Add the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and white pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Lower the heat and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.
Drain the chicken from its marinade. Five minutes before the end, add the strips to the soup and bring back to a gentle boil.
Stir the cornstarch and water well and pour into the soup, stirring constantly.
Raise the heat and bring to a boil, still stirring, until the soup thickens.
Pour the beaten egg through a strainer into the boiling soup while stirring, to form egg ribbons.
Remove from the heat, ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the scallion.

What I've learned

If the soup needs more salt, I add salt rather than more soy sauce, so the soy doesn't take over.
If you like it hotter, add more chile.

Hot and Sour Soup Draft

What you need

Chicken

Soup

How I make it

What I've learned