Hot and sour soup makes a delicious warm and spicy treat, especially during the winter months. This wonderful soup is based on egg drop soup with the addition of spicy seasonings, chicken, mushrooms and other amazing vegetables. The combination of spices and vegetables creates a warm delicious dish for anytime of the day. Try this recipe and let me know what you think in the Chinese food forum. Enjoy!

¼ cup dried cloud ear mushrooms
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
6 cups chicken stock
4 eggs
5 fresh shitake mushrooms
3 green onions
1 can straw mushrooms
1 can sliced bamboo shoots
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can baby corn
2 tbsp hot chili garlic sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
¾ tsp ground white pepper
¼ cup white vinegar
5 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Soak the cloud ears in hot water for about 30 minutes. While the mushrooms soak prepare the chicken.


2. Remove all of the fat from the chicken. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the chicken breast and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.


3. While the chicken simmers, prepare the other ingredients. Gently wipe the dirt off the shitakes and slice them into thin strips and set them aside.


4. Rinse the green onions under cold running water. Cut off their bases and about an inch from the top of their stems and discard. Then cut the remaining stems into ¼ inch pieces on a diagonal and set them aside.


5. Open and drain the canned mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and baby corn. Set them aside.


6. The cloud ear mushrooms should have reconstituted by now. Remove them from the water and pat them dry with paper towels. Then cut them into small pieces and set them aside.


7. Once the chicken has cooked, remove it from the broth and keep the broth simmering. Pat the chicken dry and shred it into small pieces. Then return these pieces of chicken to the broth.


8. Add the hot chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and white pepper and stir thoroughly.


9. Then add all three of the mushrooms, the bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and baby corn. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.


10. Add the white vinegar and let it simmer for 1 more minute.


11. As the pot simmers, in a small cup mix the cornstarch with just a little water so that it dissolves. Slowly add this mixture to the pot and stir until it thickens slightly.


12. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and lightly beat them.


13. Then begin stirring the soup in one direction so that a whirl pool is created. Once you create a steady whirl pool, turn off the heat.


14. Next you want to pour the egg into the side of the whirl pool so that it is immediately stirred into the soup. Do this by slowly pouring a tiny thin stream of egg from the bowl through a pair of chopsticks into the side of the whirlpool. Use the chopsticks to control the thickness of the stream of egg. The goal is to create thin strands of egg throughout the soup. Alternatively, if you do not mind thicker strands of egg, simply pour the egg in a thin strand from the bowl while stirring the soup.


15. Once all the egg is incorporated into the soup, slowly stir in the sesame oil.


16. Serve the soup in bowls and garnish with green onions. Makes 6 servings.