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16 January 2008

Homemade Hot & Sour Soup: The best decongestant ever.[More:]

Oh man, so good. And so expectorant-y. My nose is finally running in a good way.

Here's what you do.

Soak a handful of shitake mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water for 15 minutes.

Mince 3 or 4 cloves of garlic and a 2" - 3" chunk of ginger. Add the garlic, ginger, and shitake soaking liquid to a pot of stock. (Veg, beef, or chicken -- but chicken probably works best.) Add several tablespoons of soy sauce.

Let this mixture simmer and steep for 45 minutes or so, until the garlic/ginger taste less raw and the flavors have mixed.

Add a few good slugs of white vinegar (don't use anything fancy) and about 2T of white pepper. (I used more, I think.) Do not try to substitute either of these things -- they make it.

Bring to a low boil and adjust seasonings. Might need more hot or sour.

Add the chunky stuff. I used carrots, bok choy, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, shitakes, snow peas, and green onions. Chicken/pork would work well if you're into that sort of thing. Add things according to their cooking times so that they don't get overcooked.

When veggies are done, stir in a slurry of cornstarch and water, boil until viscous.

Slurp it up and feel the sinuses begin to clear. Ahhhhhhhhh....
Hot and Sour soup is my favorite food. When it's ready, you can put in an egg or egg substitute, it'll swirl around and and break up nicely. A dash of cumin may be to your liking. (Cumin is ground cilantro seeds, so YMMV.)

Oh, don't forget to mix the cornstarch and water together separately until smooth before you mix it in, or you'll get corn starch chunks.
posted by rainbaby 16 January | 21:08
Oh, green onions are a must. Also, you can do tofu, if you work with tofu.
posted by rainbaby 16 January | 21:10
Cumin is cumin, coriander is cilantro seeds! (And coriander/cilantro taste entirely different. Coriander is actually good.)

Together separately?
posted by mudpuppie 16 January | 21:10
Yeah, coriander is kind of citrusy. Cumin and corainder are often used together. At least in my experience with Indonesian food it is, and so I tend to use them together. I use coriander by itself sometimes, but whenever I use cumin, I use coriander as well. I love hot and sour soup, but I've never made it. I'll have to try it some time.

I past being sinusy. I need something for this cough I have.
posted by eekacat 16 January | 21:28
Ok, herb-masters. I give. Cumin has nothing to do with cilantro, so add it in!

Together separately was meant to clarify your slurry. Mix the corn starch and water together before you add it to the soup.



posted by rainbaby 16 January | 21:31
oh AWESOME, thanks mudpuppie! I so needed a good H&S soup recipe. It's the only thing missing from my arsenal of winter remedies.

it's the only thing I crave/can handle when I feel icky, especially stomach-icky and/or hangover-ish.
posted by lonefrontranger 16 January | 23:00
Whole cumin seeds look an awful lot like fennel (although the flavors are quite different in my estimation). And they're both good (as is cilantro, again in my estimation).

And yes, hot and sour soup is a really good sinus drainer.
posted by deadcowdan 17 January | 08:25
I love certain versions of Hot and Sour soup. There is a place here in town that has the best hot and sour soup I've ever had. When I try it in other places, they tend to forget the hot part, and they put bushels of mushrooms in and while I don't hate mushrooms, I don't love them either.
posted by King of Prontopia 17 January | 15:53
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