8 cup soup stock, 6-8 cups
1/4 lb pork, lean
1/2 each square bean curd (optional)
1/4 cup shredded bamboo shoot
3 each dried black mushrooms 2-3*
2 tbsp sliced can button mushrooms
4 each dried wood ears (optional)*
2 each stalks green onion, chopped
1 each slice cooked ham, shredded**
4 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp chili oil (optional)
1/4 each hite pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 each eggs lightly beaten
3 tbsp cornstarch in 3 t water
Directions
* Soaked and shredded. ** Optional Bring soup stock to a boil, add
shredded pork, black mushrooms and wood ears. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add
remainder of ingredients and seasonings (except cornstarch, eggs, and
green onion) reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Thicken with
cornstarch and turn off heat. Slowly pour in beaten eggs in a thin
stream while stirring. Serve immediately. Garnish with green onion.
If soup is to be prepared ahead of time, do not add cornstarch and
eggs until serving time. Otherwise the egg will be overcooked and
spoil the appearance. Soup should be quite hot and sour. Adjust the
hotness with varying amount of white pepper and the sourness with
different amounts of vinegar.
Servings: 4 servings
Mandarin Hot & Sour Soup Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Asian; Chinese; Soup
The History of Recipes
Food historians have tracked the existance of recipes back into ancient history, at least as far back into history as the Egyptians, and maybe even further. However, in the main part, these ancient records were just very basic pictorial instructions for preparing food.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of clay tablets in Sumerian which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who tried it feel `blissful`. During the time of the Romans a man called Apicius compiled a collection of scripts detailing recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. In his works, he describes how the roman meals were separated into appetizers, main meal and desserts, something that is very familiar to us today. He also informs us how the Roman chefs were skilled in the use of many herbs and spices, including some familiar names such as thyme, fennel and parsley. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there are a couple of cookery books which date from the 1300s ; one book called `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, these two books are unconnected to the spicy food that appears on menues today, but instead descriptions of the types of meals eaten by the rich and powerful of the period. Later on, in the 15th century, the Crusaders brought back a variety of spices and herbs from Arab cuisine, such as basil and coriander. The introduction of these new culinary ideas created an eruption in books on cooking, some of which are kept safe in academic collections. When we get to the 20th century, cooking books were highly popular mostly due to higher levels of literacy, more free time and being a little richer. |
We hope you enjoy this Mandarin Hot & Sour Soup recipe.
