On Jan 19, 4:19 pm, Janet Wilder > wrote:
> dsi1 wrote:
> > On 1/19/2010 6:16 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> >> Hello All!
>
> >> I note a recipe for Hot and Sour Soup by Jean B in r.f.recipes. It looks
> >> authentic using white pepper for heat. I wonder if any others are as
> >> horrible as me and prefer a hotter version using Sriracha sauce?
>
> > The whole point of hot and sour soup is it's total reliance on
> > black/white pepper and vinegar as it's main flavor components - that's
> > rather unique. I don't add any Srichacha myself. OTOH, I can see how the
> > taste of the soup might get kind of boring after a while.
>
> Hooray!!! Someone who understands the subtlety of hot and sour soup.
> It's really more about the textures than the "hot" and "sour". An
> authentic recipe will include all kinds of wonderful things like tiger
> lily stems, tree ear mushrooms, shredded bamboo shoots and pieces of
> firm bean curd.
>
Exactly right. Appreciation of textures is a big part of Chinese
food. As to the kind of pepper, I've used white pepper, black pepper,
dried red chile flakes and chile oil, as suggested by one or another
of many recipes I've seen. "Authentic" is pretty meaningless for this
kind of dish. Most of the time I've preferred black pepper, but I
think Fuchsia Dunlop's latest published version uses white. My
container of white pepper is very old and tasteless; I'll have to get
some good stuff (maybe from Penzey's?) before trying it again.

> Traditional Chinese cuisine is excellent by itself. I, personally, see
> no reason to turn it into TexMex.

Garlic chile sauce is a good thing. It just (like garlic) doesn't
necessarily belong everywhere. -aem