I made this last night and it turned out fantastic! I was looking for a recipe that was as close to P.F. Chang's Hot & Sour soup as possible. (my husband and 20 year old daughter LOVE their soup.)
I did make a few modifications to accomplish this. I couldn't find the wood ear mushrooms or lily buds so doubled fresh (not dried) shiitake mushrooms. This way you don't have to soak them. I sliced both the mushrooms and bamboo shoots into very thin slivers so my daughter doesn't see big chuncks as she's not a mushroom lover. I used a full can of bamboo shoots, also slivered and halved. I doubled everything but the tofu (medium firm)and the mushrooms. And with 3 of us eating I still only had about 1 to 2 cups left.
And I think the most important thing I did was cook it 3 hour before dinner for 30 minutes. Then, just before dinner I re-heated it. Then took it off the burner and waited for 3 to 4 minutes before adding the scrabbled egg and sesame oil. Make sure it stops boiling before adding these last 2 things. The egg turns out great this way. Not cloudy like others mentioned. What an excellent soup. Thanks.
Excellent! Like many I couldn't find tiger lily buds and wood ear mushrooms so I used losts of dried shitake and oyster mushrooms. I also added a bit more sour by putting in an extra tablespoon of rice vinegar. I will make again! It is great when you have a cold!
I used white vinegar instead of red wine vinegar and added chilli garlic sauce in it (to make it spicy). If you don't have ground pork, you can thinly sliced pork meat or even chicken, add a little oil in the saucepan, stir-fry thinly sliced ginger (1-2cm piece) and add the meat, stir well until the meat is browned and then you add the other ingredients. The ginger will add some spicyness into the soup as well. Since I did change the recipe, I gave it 4 stars. Overall, very delicious soup.
Although quite a challenge finding the ingredients when you haven't the slightest idea of what you are look for this recipe turned out to be outstanding or in the least a close call to my favourite restaurant but defiantly better then some! One thing is for certain when using this recipe...use white pepper as it gives it that warm comforting feeling; chillies will just give that hot sting. It s a keeper! All and all its a keeper!
I,like previous reviewers, could not find tiger lilly buds, but it didn't make a difference. This soup is EXCELLENT! I loved it so much that I ate most of it before the family could even try it! I will be making this all of the time...thank you very much for the recipe!
This soup is excellent and it's flavor is so good this reminds me of the the soup I had at a local Chinatown. The soup is just right!!!!!
I am one of the few who actually keeps wood ear mushrooms in the pantry, but did not have the tiger lily buds or the dried shiitake mushrooms. I will visit my local asian market to see if I can find the missing ingredients before I make again. Also, I used extra firm tofu as suggested but will try silken tofu next time for the softer texture. I will also add small shrimp as I usually see those in Hot & Sour soup in Chinatown. A good base recipe! Thanks.
EDIT: I now make this soup weekly, as I have grown to love it with the following changes:
12 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Handful wood ear mushroom, rehydrated in boiling water for 15 mins & drained. NO SHIITAKES.
12-15 lily buds in same water (once they rehydrate, you open them up a bit)
1/2 tsp white pepper (no more, b/c it becomes overpowering)
1 lb pressed medium firm tofu, sliced into strips
1/2 cup thinly sliced BBQ pork
1/2 cup bamboo shoots
3 tablespoons chinese red vinegar
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup (or to taste) sweet chili sauce
3 or so tbsp cornstarch, mixed with water, have made it with more or less, depending on how thick you want your soup
2 eggs (beaten) Make sure you put these in right after you turn the heat off, beat well and pour into soup in a circular drizzle. After a moment, stir and you will have those lovely ribbony eggy bits. If you wait too long the egg will not solidify properly and just make the soup cloudy. With changes, 5 star! Everyone loves it!
I made a lot of changes....I ommittes all of the mushrooms tofu etc. and ended up with just the soup and egg. I did like the soup but needed to add more vinegar to get the "sour" and more cornstarch for a thicker soup.
a wonderful blend of authentic chineese tastes and a addictive type taste definitley a five star soup
This recipe didn't taste anything like the hot and sour soups I have eaten in any of the numerous Chinese restaurants I have visited. It could be the recipe but then again it just may have been the cook! Not sure but too expensive to make again and find out.
