Chinese hot and sour soup with preserved vegetable, tomato, and soft tofu

The tartness of most Chinese hot and sour soup comes from the vinegar added.

This particular recipe includes preserved vegetable and tomato, making the tartness a bit more complex and interesting.

Do not use a tomato that is too ripe. It will become too mushy. Use a fresh firm one. To peel the tomato, score the skin with a sharp knife and then blanch quickly in hot water. The skin will contract and curl away from the flesh.

I usually do not remove the tomato seeds but add them to the hot and sour soup. It is up to you. I suggest removing only if you really do not like them or if you are serving the soup to the elderly or people with digestive issues.

The preserved vegetable used here is known as 榨菜 (zha cai) in mandarin. It is actually made from a thick knobby stemmed mustard. The part that is eaten is the stem part. It is most commonly julienned thinly and used in soups or stir-fried with lean pork strips.

picture of the zha cai/preserved vegetable

Read the 5 secrets to a successful hot sour soup before attempting this recipe.

Ingredients
3 cups of water or soup stock
1/5 piece soft tofu
5 small pieces black fungus
50g lean pork
30g preserved vegetable / 榨菜 (zha cai)
1 slice ginger
1 egg, beaten
1 small tomato
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cornstarch mixture
Cooking oil

Seasonings
2 tbsp black vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/5 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp preserved bean paste 豆瓣酱 (dou ban jiang)
Pepper
Cooking wine

Garnish
1 stalk spring onion

Directions

1. Clean and slice the lean pork into thin strips
2. Marinate with wine, salt and cornstarch
3. Soak the black fungus till soft
4. Cut the black fungus, preserved vegetable, spring onion and ginger into thin strips
5. Peel the tomato, remove seeds and slice into thin strips
6. Cut the tofu into thin strips
7. Combine the dark vinegar, soy sauce and pepper
8. Heat the oil in a pot
9. Add the preserved bean paste and fry quickly
10. Add the lean pork strips and fry briefly
11. Remove the pork strips and leave aside
12. Add the soup stock into the pot and add the ginger, black fungus strips
13. Bring the soup to a boil
14. Add the tofu, preserved vegetable, pork strips and tomato
15. Add the combined vinegar, soy sauce and pepper
16. Bring the soup back to a boil
17. Thicken soup with the cornstarch mixture
18. Stream the egg in, using a pair of chopstick
19. Remove from heat, garnish with chopped spring onion
20. Serve hot

Recipe link: Chinese hot and sour soup with tomato, soft tofu, and preserved vegetable

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