Hot and sour soup

[seegrim]

Hot and sour soup

5 cups chicken broth

½ lb. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced

½ lb. lean pork, cut in thin strips

¼ cup white vinegar

3 tbsp. soy sauce

½ red pepper flakes, crushed

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ lb. firm tofu, drained and diced

3 tbsp. cornstarch

½ cup cold water

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp. sesame oil (optional)

½ cup sliced green onions (optional)

Boil broth; add mushrooms, pork, vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and black pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Add tofu.  In small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in cold water.  Add to soup.  Boil 5 minutes more.  Slowly stir in beaten egg.  Garnish with sesame oil and green onion if desired.

I actually double the recipe and put in the entire block of tofu.  You can play around with this recipe--it's very forgiving--with the exception of the white vinegar to soy sauce ratio.  Also, I use sriracha instead of red pepper flakes.