Hot and sour soup

Ingredients for 20 servings:

• 6 liters of chicken broth
• 3 chicken legs
• 500 g minced beef
• 10 g Mu-Err mushrooms or morels, dried
• 1 can bamboo slices, finely chopped
• 2 small jar bell peppers, pickled, cut into strips
• 150 ml soy sauce, dark
• 2 eggs
• 9 tbsp sugar
• 9 tbsp vinegar
• Salt
• Sambal Oelek
• Cayenne pepper
• chili powder
• 3 tbsp cornstarch or rice flour to thicken
• 1 tbsp oil
• 6 tbsp water

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes

tastes like Chinese food

Soak the mu err mushrooms in hot water for a few hours until tender. Cook the chicken thighs in water or chicken broth. Brown the ground beef in a hot pan until crumbly and season as desired. Cut the chicken, bamboo shoots, mu err mushrooms, and pickled bell peppers into small cubes. Add all ingredients to the chicken broth and bring to a boil. To enhance the flavor, add a little of the liquid from the bell peppers or bamboo shoots to the soup. Add soy sauce. Season to taste with salt, vinegar, sugar, and sambal oelek. Season with cayenne pepper and chili powder if desired. Mix 6 tablespoons of water with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch or rice flour and add to the boiling soup, stirring well. Repeat this process until the desired consistency is reached. Finally, whisk the two eggs with oil and add them to the soup drop by drop. Tips: Use a large pot and a food processor. Rice flour for thickening is available in Chinese supermarkets. The “sour-spicy paste” in packets is fantastic – highly recommended (also available at Chinese markets). It adds the finishing touch! With this, you need less sugar and vinegar, as well as less of the hotter spices. Adjust the seasonings to your liking. Preparation is a tedious, chopping job. But when guests compliment the soup on how delicious it is, like a Chinese restaurant, the effort wasn’t in vain. If you have a food processor that chops (but be careful – don’t chop too finely), it won’t take as long. My quantities are for approximately 20 people or soup bowls.