Read Quick & Easy Chinese Online
Authors: Nancie McDermott
Quick & Easy Chinese (10 page)
In a medium saucepan, combine the creamed corn and chicken stock, and bring to a gentle boil. Stir in the sherry and salt, and then add the ham. Cook for 1 minute more, stirring once or twice, until the soup is steaming hot and everything is evenly combined.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil and green onion. Serve hot or warm.
Try a steaming bowl of this pungent soup the next time you need help warming up on a cold winter’s night. Abundant with contrasts in texture and flavor, it holds a place of honor on Chinese restaurant menus in the West and is enjoyed throughout China, far from its northern home. The traditional recipe calls for cloud ears and lily buds, also called “golden needles,” two dried ingredients that need soaking and trimming in advance. I love this soup with
Pot Sticker Dumplings
(page 23) and a big, cool green salad, or with steamed broccoli and a bowl of rice.
5 dried shiitake mushrooms, fresh shiitake mushrooms, or button mushrooms
2 tablespoons Chenkiang vinegar, red wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Hot Chili Oil (page 175), chili-garlic sauce, or red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
4 cups chicken stock
¼ pound boneless pork
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup bamboo shoots, cut into strips
½ cup firm tofu, cut into strips or
½ inch chunks (see Note)
2 eggs, beaten well
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
SERVES
4
TO
6
NOTE
If you can’t find firm tofu, see page 178 for instructions on making it at home
.
Cover the dried mushrooms with warm water and soak for 20 minutes, until they are softened. If using dried softened shiitakes or fresh shiitakes, remove the stems and cut the caps into long thin strips. If using another type of mushroom, cut lengthwise into thin slices or strips.
In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine everything well. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water and mix them well. Cut the pork crosswise into thin slices and then lengthwise into long, thin strips.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the pork, mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots, and tofu, and stir well. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Have all the remaining ingredients handy, the vinegar mixture, cornstarch, and beaten eggs, so that you can add them one after the other to complete the soup.
With the soup boiling gently, add the vinegar mixture and stir well. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until the soup thickens, less than 1 minute. Stir so that the soup is whirling gently around the pan, and slowly drizzle the eggs onto the surface of the soup, so that they spread lazily out into threads.
Remove from the heat, gently stir in the sesame oil and green onion, and serve hot or warm.
&
eggs
ALMOND CHICKEN