Hot and sour soup with chicken and tofu

I found this hot and sour soup with chicken and tofu in Everything Bean Curd! by Betty Saw.

Betty is considered a celebrity chef in Malaysia. She has written a few cookbooks mostly on chinese and healthy cooking.

I was flipping through the book at my public library and the recipe caught my attention. Besides the hot and sour soup, there are many other interesting tofu recipes in the book.

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

100g chicken breast
1.5 litre chicken stock
15g Sichuan preserved vegetable 四川榨菜 (Si chuan zha cai)
30g carrot
2 water chestnuts
2 fresh shiitake mushrooms
100g canned straw mushrooms
1 packet soft bean curd / tofu
2 red chillies
100g crab meat
1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 125ml of chicken stock
1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp black vinegar

1. Cut the chicken breast into long thin strips
2. Marinate the chicken with pepper, salt and cornstarch
3. Slice the Sichuan preserved vegetable into thin slices
4. Peel and shred the carrot and water chestnuts
5. Cut the bean curd into thin strips
6. Wash and slice the mushrooms into thin strips
7. Bring the chicken stock to a boil
8. Add the Sichuan preserved vegetable, carrot, water chestnuts, mushrooms, chillies and black vinegar
9. Simmer the soup on low heat for about 10 minutes
10. Add the chicken
11. Bring the soup back to a boil
12. Add the bean curd and crab meat
13. Simmer for about 5 minutes
14. Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the soup
15. Stream the beaten egg in to make egg flowers
16. Remove from heat and serve

Recipe link: http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/hot-and-sour-soup-04.html