VeggieBytes

Chef Veggie's blog

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Vegan MoFo – Hot & Sour Soup

Happy Recipe Wednesday!  It’s about halfway through the month and Vegan MoFo.

Did the weather change at all in your area?  We received some much needed rain and the temperature was in the lower 60’s.
It’s back in the 90’s again.  I think the atmospheric pressure changing and some late night dancing all sweaty in air conditioning, lowered my immunity. So I was a little off my game and missed my Monday blog post.

The good thing is that I’ve been making lots of soup.  I was even able to make this particular soup for one of my personal chef clients yesterday.

It’s full of wonderful stuff and is very flavorful but low in fat.  It’s a vegan soup that doesn’t require any non-dairy milk or nuts or noodles. I find the ample amount of garlic and ginger makes it soothing for any respiratory illness.  It’s also super fast to cook!  Full of fun ingredients like young bamboo shoots and woodear fungus, this is not a boring soup!  You can find dried woodear fungus in Asian markets.  Young bamboo can be found in the refrigerated or frozen section. Since it is fresh frozen, these shoots do not have the metallic taste like the rectangles you find in cans.  The shape is also very satisfying to eat.

Hot and Sour Soup

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Vegan MoFo – Hot & Sour Soup

Ingredients

  • 3 wood ear fungus (sliced, soaked in water for 20 minutes, remove hard part that attaches to a tree)
  • 1/2 cup fresh shitake mushrooms
  • (or 1/4 cup dried, soaked in water for 20 minutes)
  • 1 carrot (sliced on the bias then sliced in to strips)
  • 1 cup Napa Cabbage (sliced in to strips)
  • 2 young bamboo shoots (sliced into rounds)
  • 1/2 pkg of extra-firm tofu (cut into long strips)
  • 1 TBSP sesame oil (can be omitted for oil-free)
  • 4 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1 inch ginger, shredded (I like to use a ceramic ginger grater or microplane zester)
  • 7 cups vegetable broth (or 7 cups water with 1 1/2 TBSP Better Than Bouillion -not chicken flavor)
  • 2 TBSP shoyu or tamari
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Szechuan pepper
  • 1 tsp dried chili flakes
  • 1/4 cup Non-Gmo Cornstarch or Potato Starch
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • Garnish: Chopped scallions, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, baby corn, more pepper

Instructions

  1. Soak the woodears and dried shitake.
  2. Cut up all of your veggies, garlic and ginger, and tofu.
  3. In a soup pot, heat sesame oil on medium and add garlic and ginger.
  4. When heated through, quickly add the broth.
  5. Then add the shoyu, vinegar, and both pepper.
  6. Add the vegetables and mushrooms. Cook until carrots are tender.
  7. Bring soup to a boil and dissolve the starch in water in a large liquid measuring cup.
  8. Pour the starch in the soup and stir. It should thicken.
  9. Ladle soup into individual bowls and add your desired garnishes.

fresh bamboo ring

Doesn’t that bamboo shoot look fun to eat!

See you back on Fermentation Friday!  I have 3 new things that are ready to come out of jars!