Ron's Hot and Sour Soup

For some strange reason, last week I had a hankerin' (you know what a hankerin' is, right) for some Hot and Sour Soup. Part of that was I guess because I had a quantity of homemade chicken broth in my freezer that needed using, and also had some leftover green onions.

So I went to the old cabinet and refrigerator, and sure enough, I had Sesame Oil, Chinese Rice Vinegar, eggs, aforementioned chicken broth, pepper, sugar, and soy sauce. The basics. I then went out and bought mushrooms, firm tofu, chili sauce, and small ears of corn.

The following is what I did:

Ingredients and Method:

One can miniature corn cobs, rinsed (Substitute or add water chestnuts if you like)
6 - 8 mushrooms of your choice, rinsed, scrubbed and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 package firm tofu, sliced into small rectangles
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
3 - 4 cups chicken broth
1 - 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (careful, it's hot)
1 teaspoon sesame oil green onion for garnish

In a large soup pot, heat the oil to medium heat. Add ginger and and saute for two minutes. Add mushrooms and corn and saute for two minutes more. Now here's the cool part, add the sugar, rice vinegar, tofu, salt, pepper and soy sauce and chicken broth and bring to boil, immediately lower to simmer, mix the water and corn starch together thoroughly, and add to the mixture. Simmer for about 20 minutes until fragrant. While stirring the soup, slowly add beaten egg in a very thin stream, stirring constantly.

Add chili sauce and sesame oil, and simmer for ten minutes longer.

Spoon into bowls, serve immediately, and garnish with sliced green onion.

Two friends of mine said this is the best Hot and Sour Soup they have ever had. It made my day.

Enjoy.

<div align="center"> <a href="http://usrg.com" title="View themerlinmenu's Recipes on usrg.com" target="_blank">

<img src="http://www.usrg.com/badge/usrg_badge_150x150.png" alt="themerlinmenu's Recipes, Reviews, Photos on United States Restaurant Guide"/></a>

</div>