For me, it was the Vegetarian hot and sour soup. Unfortunately, I have found no restaurants that even come close, and my efforts have failed time and time again. I've almost accepted the fact that I will never taste it ( as I remembered it) again.
I live in a mecca for Chinese/Asian restaurants, and love it, but also love to cook my own food.
Like you, I also love hot & sour soup and make it often. In fact, I have a batch in the fridge as I write this.
Here's my recipe - please adjust it to your taste, it won't make a difference if you leave out the pork.
Hot & Sour Soup
For the Broth (use your own vegetarian, chicken, or whatever broth you prefer)
Add these aromatics:
• 2-inch knob ginger, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
• 1 onion, split in half
• 6 scallions, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
For the Garnish:
• 1 ounce dried wood-ear mushrooms
• 1 ounce dried daylilies
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 6 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into thin matchsticks
• 6 ounces trimmed pork shoulder or loin, cut into 2-inch long slivers
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
To Serve:
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground white pepper (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup Chinkiang vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 1/4 cup picked fresh cilantro leaves
• Chili Crisp, chili oil, saracha, or sambal to make it as hot as your like
Directions:
For the Broth: Use your own vegetable broth, or chicken stock or water, about 1.5 quarts.
To whatever water/broth you use, add ginger, garlic, onion, and 6 scallions. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook for 1 hour. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pot. Discard solids. You should have about 1 1/2 quarts broth. If not, reduce to 1 1/2 quarts.
2 Combine 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl and mix with a fork. Add to broth. Add soy sauce and sesame oil. Bring to a boil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and keep warm.
For the Garnish: While broth simmers, place shiitake mushrooms, wood-ears and daylilies in separate bowls and cover with warm water. Let soak at least half an hour, I usually soak overnight. Drain carefully, then thinly slice wood-ears and cut daylilies crosswise into 2-inch pieces. I buy sliced woodier mushrooms, much easier to deal with. In the batch pictured, I added shredded carrots I already had in the fridge. Wanted to use them up.
When broth is ready, add sliced wood-ears, daylilies, tofu, and pork, if you’re using meat. Beat together egg with 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Bring broth to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and slowly pour the egg into the broth in a thin steady stream. Let egg set for 15 seconds, then stir gently to incorporate. Season soup to taste with salt if necessary.
I personally don’t like egg in soup, so I leave it out.
The pictures Ive used here are some I took for a contents on another cooking forum. I actually won with this entry, if that makes a difference. As I said, I make this a lot and sometimes vary it, depending on what I have on hand.
