Hot & Sour Soup (Suan La Tang)

The story

Suan la tang is the Chinese answer to bad weather — white pepper for the heat (never chili), black vinegar for the sour, everything else is texture: tofu, wood ear, egg ribbons. Every restaurant has a version; this is the home minimum.

Ingredients (6 + pantry staples)

• Firm tofu, shredded or diced — 8 oz / 225 g
• Dried wood ear fungus — 1 oz / 30 g, soaked and shredded
• Eggs — 2, beaten
• Black vinegar — 3 tbsp
• Ground white pepper — 1.5 tsp (yes, that much)
• Soy sauce — 2 tbsp

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): salt, cornstarch (2 tbsp), toasted sesame oil, scallions. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Boil 5 cups / 1.2 L water with the soy sauce, tofu and wood ears; simmer 5 minutes.
2. Season boldly: white pepper and most of the vinegar (this soup should sting pleasantly).
3. Stir in cornstarch slurry until slightly thickened.
4. Heat off — ribbon in the eggs while stirring. Sesame oil and scallions on top.

Swaps

Add shredded pork or shrimp with the tofu. Fresh mushrooms instead of wood ear if unavailable.