Hal Laurent wrote:
> [snip]
> I just checked my six Chinese cook books. Five of them
> have hot and sour soup recipes, and not one of them has any red
> pepper in them. (Curiously, "Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook"
> maintains that you can't really make authentic hot and sour soup
> in the US, 'cause it's impossible to get coagulated duck blood).
>
> You can make hot and sour soup plenty hot with black pepper, believe
> me. [snip] It's best to ask for vinegar on the side (pepper is
> usually already on the table) to correct the flavor.
>
Well, the thread is "Fake" hot and sour soup, and besides, the "hot"
part is the least important. Textural contrasts provided by the tofu,
mushrooms and more exotic fungi matter more, and above all, the quality
of the Chinese black vinegar. I love "Mrs. Chiang's" cookbook,
probably try harder to adhere to those recipes than any other book's.
-aem