Hot And Spicy Soup ( 酸辣湯 )

Hot and spicy soup is not really transliterated exactly, word for word, it is actually sour and spicy soup.

I am going to show you to how make an authentic hot and spicy soup the right way (modified from the Taiwan style soup recipe by the famous chef in Taiwan, 阿基師 ).  Hint, lots of carrots.  Yes, I bought too many carrots and needed to finish them (like the apple pie I made previously), it seems like a theme I have.

Vegan Hot and Spicy Soup (preparation: 20 minutes, make 5 to 8 servings)

6 to 8 shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup of dried wood ear mushrooms
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 to 2 carrots
1 box (16 oz) of firm tofu
1 bunch of enoki mushroom
(Optional) 1/2 cup of sliced seitan

1 cup of cold water
2 tablespoons of corn starch

1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of black pepper
3 tablespoons of vinegar

Sesame oil to taste
Black vinegar to taste

1. Before doing anything, soak the dried shiitake and dried wood ear mushrooms for at least 10 minutes; if you are using fresh shiitake, no soaking needed
2. Save the water from soaking shiitake mushroom; sliced the shiitake and wood ear mushrooms
3. Julienne the carrots.  Heat a soup pot and saute the carrots in some sesame oil until the oil color turned orange
4. Continue sauteing with the shiitake and wood ear mushrooms for a minute
5. Add salt, black pepper, soy sauce, and water from soaking shiitake mushroom; bring to boil
6. Combine the cold water and the starch, make sure to mix well; pour in the starch water slowly while stirring
7. Cut the tofu long and thin; put in the enoki mushrooms and tofu, bring to boil
8. Add seitan (if any), wait a minute before pouring in the vinegar, bring to boil

To serve, drizzle some sesame oil, black pepper, and black vinegar (do not skip this!) in the each serving.  Before eating, one has to stir the soup before consuming to mix the vinegar into the soup.