‘Beijing’ was one of our favorite restaurants in Wellington. Their hot and sour soup was a hit for us, and I am trying to get the similar taste. So far this is the closest I have got. This is to use a lot of white pepper instead of chili.
Ingredients
4-5 dried Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4-5 dried ear mushrooms, sliced
1 Japanese leek or 2 spring onions, chopped
1 small piece of ginger, chopped
1 pack of tofu, cut in cubes
2 teaspoons of chicken stock powder
800cc of water (including the hot water used for mushrooms in step1)
2-3 leaves of Chinese cabbage (optional), cut in 1-1.5cm
1 egg (optional), beaten
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sake
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
1/4 cup of water for cornstarch, mix with cornstarch
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1/2-1 teaspoon of white pepper
sesame oil for flavor
coriander, chopped (optional)
Instruction
1. Soak dried Shiitake mushrooms and ear mushrooms in hot water in a small bowl, and leave them until they become soft then slice them. Keep the water aside.
2. In a pot, add chopped Japanese leak, ginger,sliced Shiitake mushrooms and ear mushrooms, water including the hot water used in step1, sake and chicken stock powder and boil.
3. Add Tofu and Chinese cabbage to 3 and continue to cook.
4. Add soy sauce.
5. Add cornstarch mixture to 4 and mix well until it is smoothly thickened.
6. Add egg if you want here. Mixing the soup to make some movement, slowly pour the egg making a thin ribbon.
7. Turn off the stove and add rice vinegar and white pepper. You can adjust the amount of them depending on the taste you like.
8. Garnish chopped coriander and sesame oil before serving.