Recipes

Shanghai-Style Hot and Sour Soup (Hushi Suanla Geng)

  • Serves

    serves 4

SAVEUR EDITORS

By SAVEUR Editors


Published on September 4, 2007

This rendition of hot and sour soup gets its sourness from chinkiang vinegar, a rice vinegar reminiscent of balsamic.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 14 cup hot bean sauce
  • 4 cups Chicken Stock
  • 1 tbsp. shaoxing jiu
  • 14 tsp. sugar
  • 18 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
  • Pinch of salt
  • 16 large peeled deveined shrimp, 12 butterflied (tails left on), 4 finely chopped
  • 14 lb. silken tofu, julienned
  • 12 cup drained canned bamboo shoots, julienned
  • 12 oz. dried wood ear mushrooms (about 2 medium or 1 large), soaked in water for 1 hour, rinsed and julienned
  • 6 small dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water for 30 minutes, julienned
  • 2 large scallops, julienned
  • 2 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 2-3 tbsp. chinkiang vinegar
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped

Instructions

Step 1

Heat a large flat-bottomed wok over high heat until hot. Add oil, then bean sauce, and cook until fragrant, about 5 seconds. Add stock, wine, sugar, pepper, and salt; bring to a boil. Add butterflied shrimp and simmer until just cooked through, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to a plate and set aside. Stir in chopped shrimp, tofu, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and scallops; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, for 3 minutes.

Step 2

Stir cornstarch together with 3 tbsp. water in a bowl. Uncover wok, return soup to a boil, stir in cornstarch mixture, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar, and ladle soup into 4 bowls. Garnish with butterflied shrimp and scallions.

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