Chinese hot and sour soup à la Szechuan

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 100 g pork schnitzel
• 4 medium-sized shiitake mushrooms, dried
• 10 mushrooms (cloud ears), dried
• 10 flowers (gold needles), dried
• 2 slice(s) tofu (bean curd cake)
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp rice wine (Arak Masak)
• 2 small eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tsp peanut oil, unrefined
• 10 g coriander leaves
• 1 pinch of salt or aji-no-moto
• 1 pinch(s) black pepper, from the mill
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, dark, sweet
• 1 tsp rice wine (Arak Masak)
• 1 tsp tapioca flour
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp sesame oil, dark
• 1 pinch of salt or aji-no-moto
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, light
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, sweet
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar, dark, Yongghun Laogu or Chinkiang vinegar (Gold Plum)
• 2 small red chili peppers
• 2 tsp sesame oil, dark
• 300 g chicken thighs
• 400 g lean pork shoulder
• 300 g smoked ham, without rind
• 50 g celery (celery stalks), fresh or frozen
• 40 g carrot(s), coarsely grated
• 10 g ginger, fresh or frozen
• 1 liter of water

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours 15 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 45 minutes

Popular peasant soup in Szechuan, but prepared here without chicken blood.

For the broth, chop the meat into approximately 3 cm pieces and rinse. Wash the fresh celery, shake dry, pick off the leaves, and freeze. Cut the stalks crosswise into approximately 2 cm long pieces. Wash and peel one carrot, and grate the required amount with a coarse grater. Wash, peel, and thinly slice the ginger. Place all the ingredients for the broth in a 3-liter saucepan with a lid and simmer for 3 hours with the lid lifted. Skim off any foam that forms with a slotted spoon until the broth is clear. Soak the mushrooms and golden needles in some of the hot broth (remove them while simmering). Strain the cooled broth and return it to the saucepan. Cut the caps of the shiitake mushrooms into as thin strips as possible, allowing the tough stems to cook in the saucepan. Cut the cloud ears into approximately 3 cm pieces. Cut the golden needles crosswise into approximately 5 cm long pieces. To marinate, mix salt, pepper, and soy sauce with the rice wine and brush the meat pieces with it. Sprinkle the tapioca flour over the meat and stir in the orange juice in one direction. Marinate the meat for 45 minutes, then stir in the sesame oil. Cut the bean curd into approximately 5 x 5 mm thick strips. Mix the tapioca flour with the rice wine in a cup. Crack the eggs and whisk them with a pinch of salt and the peanut oil. Wash and deseed the chilies, cut them lengthwise into thin strands, and discard the stems. Strain the finished broth (approx. 700 g) through a fine sieve. Discard the cooked vegetables and reserve the meat for another purpose. Return the broth to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the mushrooms, golden needles, and chilies. Season with salt, sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Add the pork, making sure the pieces don’t stick together. Add the bean curd strips to the broth. Once the soup returns to a boil, briefly stir the tapioca flour and rice wine mixture and pour it into the broth while stirring. Once the tapioca flour has thickened, remove the pot from the heat. Slowly add the beaten eggs while stirring gently. Sprinkle the coriander leaves over the soup, cover, and let it stand for 1 minute. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil to each, and serve hot.