Some Like It HOTTT!!!!

By Pam Hadder


Call me crazy, but I love hot and spicy food year-round; even on the most scorching days of  summer. My latest quest was to find a great vegan Hot and Sour soup recipe - my best friend just had surgery, and, like me, she's a soup lover, so that was the nudge I needed.

The resulting recipe is my version drawn from a number of non-vegan recipes found on the Internet - I should add that it's important for me to have all of the authentic flavours, but hopefully not requiring too many hard-to-find ingredients!   I made this last night with a peanut/veg/pasta stir fry, and it was a big hit.  The ultimate compliment came from my friend who said the best hot and sour soup she'd ever had was from the (now closed!) River Mandarin, and that my soup was even better (wow... humbled).

So, I hope you will try this recipe and enjoy the exhilarating warmth that radiates down your throat and into your body.  xox


Pam's Vegan Hot 'N Sour Soup
Ingredients:
1 small pkg. dried wood mushrooms
2 cups boiling water
4 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
7-8 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 - 1/2 tsp. dried red chilies (flakes)
1 - 500g pkg. firm tofu, cut into bite-size cubes6 cups vegetable broth (or 6 cups water and 3 Tbsp. vegan chick'n broth mix)
1 -  450g pkg. fresh shitake mushrooms
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, chopped
2 Tbsp. red pepper sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot, Regular)
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. pure sesame oil
1/3 cup finely cut chives or scallion greens, for garnish


Method:
Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a small heat-safe bowl and set them aside to soak for about 20 minutes - they will rehydrate.  Reserve the water they are soaking in.

Meanwhile, dice your tofu (I like small cubes - a bit smaller than 1/2", but some folks cut the tofu in small strips or larger cubes - just preference!).  Combine all of the soy and rice vinegar with the chilies and the corn starch in a medium bowl - stir until smooth.  Toss the tofu in the soy mixture and set aside.  


Pour the six cups of broth into a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Slice the shitakes, and drain and slice the wood mushrooms and bamboo shoots - add all three kinds of mushrooms and the shoots to the hot broth, and stir in the soy/tofu mixture and the hot sauce.

Bring soup to a slow boil for 3 minutes, then reduce to a simmer, drizzle in the sesame oil.  Garnish with green onion at serving time, if desired.

Note: a cup or two of diagonally cut carrots, sweet cabbage and broccoli florets can be added to amp up the veg, if the soup is all you are serving.