Quick Hot & Sour Soup

Soak shiitake mushrooms for at least an hour before cooking. Cooking itself won't take long.

Yield: servings

Ingredients

• 18 g dried shiitake mushroom, sliced and soaked in 300 ml water for at least one hour in refridgerator *1
• 1 soft tofu, diced into 1/2" cubes
• 1 1/2 to 2 tsp toban djan (chili bean paste)
• 800 ml water or hot water
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp sake
• 1 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 5 tsp corn starch, combined with 1/4 cup water
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 2/3 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

Directions

1. Heat pot over medium-low heat and coat the surface of the pot with oil. Fry toban djan until fragrant.
2. Stir in soy sauce, then a bit of water. When toban dian is dissolved, add remaining water,  chicken bouillon powder, sake and black pepper.
3. When boiling, add corn starch water while stirring the soup well, making sure it mixes completely.
4. When boiling again, swirl in 1/2 egg by drizzling. Allow it to cook for 10 seconds, then cut the half-cooked egg into short strips using a cooking spoon or a spatula. Repeat the process with the remaining egg.
5. Add tofu, vinegar, dried shiitake and the water the shiitake mushrooms were soaked in. Turn off the heat right before the soup boils again - DO NOT BOIL.