misterx

Lorelei made this soup herself to take to a pagan yule celebration/pot luck dinner at the UU church last night. Luckily, there was some left, and she brought it home.

Back from a chilly day of taking photos in a shaded gorge, I heated up the remains and made myself a mug. Oh. My. *God* this is good. My mouth did a happy dance.

Since I can't run to each and every one of your houses to feed you a spoonful, I give you this instead:

HOT AND SOUR SOUP WITH GINGER

4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 10.5-ounce package extra-fine or firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 ounce bean thread noodles or angel hair pasta, broken in half
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
Pinch of sugar

Combine broth and mushrooms in bowl. Let stand until mushrooms soften, about 20 minutes. Remove mushroom from broth and squeeze dry over bowl with broth; reserve broth. Discard mushroom stems; thinly slice caps. Combine vinegar and cornstarch in small bowl; stir to blend.

Heat oil in large saucepan over high heat. Add ginger; sauté 30 seconds. Pour in reserved broth, leaving behind any sediment. Bring to boil. Add tofu, noodles, soy sauce, red pepper, sugar and mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture; stir until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Serves 4.

Note - Lorelei's version differs slightly. She put in wontons instead of noodles, and added bamboo shoots. It's amazing. Make some.