What is hot and sour soup?
Hot and sour soup is often spicy (though recipes vary) and always mildly sour due to the inclusion of vinegar. It usually has bean sprouts, tofu, and mushrooms, and is generally my preference when at a Chinese restaurant. If you’d like to try making the soup, here’s a recipe from Epicurious that got good reviews. 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 cornstar
