Vegetarian hot and sour soup

This vegetarian hot and sour soup contains so many different types of mushrooms. Yum!

Don't let some of the ingredients frighten you. Let me make a few introductions.

Firstly, 发菜 (fa cai), a type of edible hair-like moss. The moss resemble strands of black hair. Once it is cooked, it soften and clings to the surface of the other ingredients. It is a key ingredient in a popular Chinese New Year dish. It has the same sound as prosperity which is why the chinese likes to use it in their new year dishes.

Shiitake mushroom is meaty while enoki offers a soft crunch. I like chewing on enoki mushrooms because each bite releases flavorsome juices.

Salted vegetable is a type of preserved vegetable. Unlike the Sichuan preserved vegetable, this one consists mostly of the leaves of the vegetables and is preserved only with salt.

Seasoning B is best added just before consuming the soup. You can serve it in a separate serving dish to be placed next to the soup. Whoever is drinking this soup can add any amount they like.

If you are wondering how thin to cut the ingredients, use the enoki mushrooms as a rough guide. It is good to cut ingredients into similar sizes so that they cook evenly.

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

Ingredients
85g vegetable cooking oil
1 firm tofu, cut into thin strips
1 carrot, cut into strips
85g salted vegetable, cut into strips
3-4 red chilli, remove seeds and sliced
5g 发菜 (fa cai)
110g needle mushroom (enoki mushrooms)
4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 litre vegetarian soup stock
cornstarch mixture (2 tbsp with 60ml water)
1 egg, beaten

Seasoning A
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Seasoning B
60ml dark vinegar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Directions

1. Soak the salted vegetable in water for 30 minutes, drain, wash and cut into thin strips
2. Soak the fa cai in water for 20 minutes and drain
3. Heat the oil in a wok, fry the shiitake mushrooms for about a minute
4. Add the tofu, carrot, salted vegetable, chilli, fa cai and enoki mushrooms
5. Stir fry the ingredients well, add the soup stock and seasoning A
6. When soup boils, lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes
7. Add the cornstarch mixture and bring soup back to a boil and thickens
8. Turn off the heat, add the beaten egg
9. Before serving, add seasoning B

Recipe link: Vegetarian hot and sour soup version 1

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