"aem" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> 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
>

Isn't that a great cookbook? The recipes are universally great in my
experience. Too bad it's out of print. My copy is so food-stained and ratty
that you could probably make a decent stock by boiling it! I made her bon
bon chicken last night, great meal for hot weather.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
. com...

>> I love "Mrs. Chiang's" cookbook,
>
> Isn't that a great cookbook? The recipes are universally great in my
> experience. Too bad it's out of print. My copy is so food-stained and
> ratty that you could probably make a decent stock by boiling it!

Yes, indeed. Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan cookbook is one of my two favorites,
the other being Robert Delf's "The Good Food of Szechwan", which is also
long out of print. You can find copies from used book sellers if you're
willing to pay. I got a copy last year to give to my stepdaughter.

Hal Laurent
Baltimore

Hal Laurent > wrote:

> Sheldon, I don't know where you get your Chinese recipes but I'd question
> their authenticity. 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).

This is very interesting. I assume we are speaking of the "real", as
distinct from the "fake" soup now. :-) There appear to exist some
pan-Chinese recipes and sour-and-hot soup, usually, it seems,
transliterated as "suan la tang", may well have by now become one, but
most recipes are regional, of course. I wonder where suan la tang
really originated. I am anything but an expert on anything Chinese, but
it looks like there are at least three versions of its origin:

1. Peking, under which name the soup is known in a lot of places
2. Shanghai
3. Szechuan, particularly Chengdu

Again, I have no idea where the "authentic" version originated. I
wonder if there is more than one. Anyway, here is what appears to be a
nice version said to be from Shanghai:
<http://www.student.nvcc.edu/home/chhuang/project2/soup1.htm>

Shanghai Style Spicy Sour Soup

Suan La Tang (Mandarin)

Materials
Shredded Meat 100 g
Dry Black Fungus 4 pcs
Dry Black Mushrooms 5 pcs
Shredded Doufu 1 pc
Shredded Bamboo Shoots 1/2 can
Shredded Solid pig blood 1/2 cup
Shredded Red Carrot 1 tbsp
Egg 1 pc
Spring Onion 1 stalk
Cornflour 3 tbsp

Sauce 1
Light Soy Sauce 2 tbsp
Red Vinegar 2 tbsp
Sugar 1 tbsp

Sauce 2
Sesame Oil 2 tbsp
Spicy Red Pepper
Oil 1/2 tbsp
Pepper some
Salt 1/2 tbsp
Chinese Parsley some

Steps
1) Soak the dry fungus and mushroom, clean and wipe dry, shredded
2) Whisk the egg with 3 tbsp of water and a little cornflour
3) Stir fry the spring onion, mushrooms with 2 tbsp of oil
4) Add 6 cup of water (approx. 1/2 liter) until boiled
5) Shred spring onion, add all shredded materials to soup
6) Add sauce (1) and cornflour solution, stir well until boiled
7) Pour the egg solution and stir gently until egg float on surface
8) Add sauce (2), mix well and until boiled for 1 minute, serve

Remark
tbsp - table spoon
Pig blood can be instead by chicken's - steam blood with 1/3 water in a
bowl until cooked
Pig blood - this material is not necessary, but better taste if applied

> Most Chinese restaurant versions of hot and sour soup around here (the
> Baltimore-Washington area) are wimpy, lacking in both black pepper and
> vinegar. It's best to ask for vinegar on the side (pepper is usually
> already on the table) to correct the flavor.

FWIW (not much), most Chinese restaurant versions here (Germany) are
also almost always fairly wimpy, but they do usually include hot pepper
flakes and, at least occasionally, it seems, a bit of hot chilli oil.
BTW, pepper and vinegar are not always on the table, but hot chilli
paste (of the sambal oelek type) nearly always is.

Victor

Hal Laurent wrote:
>
> Yes, indeed. Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan cookbook is one of my two favorites,
> the other being Robert Delf's "The Good Food of Szechwan", which is also
> long out of print. You can find copies from used book sellers if you're
> willing to pay. I got a copy last year to give to my stepdaughter.
>
> Hal Laurent
> Baltimore
>
>
I was gonna say, what about Delf's book? Boy, until these two
volumes came out, we could not cook decent Sichuan food at home.
Those recipes calling for chile flakes just didn't cut it. BTW, I
agree re the H&S soup (not speaking of the authentic stuff), both
that made at home and that consumed in restaurants. The latter
seems to have really gone downhill over the years. You can find
fairly spicy versions, but the sour aspect seems to have pretty
much disappeared. I keep thinking I should travel with my own
vinegar................

--
Jean B.

Victor Sack wrote:

> This is very interesting. I assume we are speaking of the "real", as
> distinct from the "fake" soup now. :-) There appear to exist some
> pan-Chinese recipes and sour-and-hot soup, usually, it seems,
> transliterated as "suan la tang", may well have by now become one, but
> most recipes are regional, of course. I wonder where suan la tang
> really originated. I am anything but an expert on anything Chinese, but
> it looks like there are at least three versions of its origin:
>
> 1. Peking, under which name the soup is known in a lot of places
> 2. Shanghai
> 3. Szechuan, particularly Chengdu
>
> Again, I have no idea where the "authentic" version originated. I
> wonder if there is more than one. Anyway, here is what appears to be a
> nice version said to be from Shanghai:
> <http://www.student.nvcc.edu/home/chhuang/project2/soup1.htm>
>
> Shanghai Style Spicy Sour Soup
>
> Suan La Tang (Mandarin)
>
> Materials
> Shredded Meat 100 g
> Dry Black Fungus 4 pcs
> Dry Black Mushrooms 5 pcs
> Shredded Doufu 1 pc
> Shredded Bamboo Shoots 1/2 can
> Shredded Solid pig blood 1/2 cup
> Shredded Red Carrot 1 tbsp
> Egg 1 pc
> Spring Onion 1 stalk
> Cornflour 3 tbsp
>
> Sauce 1
> Light Soy Sauce 2 tbsp
> Red Vinegar 2 tbsp
> Sugar 1 tbsp
>
> Sauce 2
> Sesame Oil 2 tbsp
> Spicy Red Pepper
> Oil 1/2 tbsp
> Pepper some
> Salt 1/2 tbsp
> Chinese Parsley some
>
> Steps
> 1) Soak the dry fungus and mushroom, clean and wipe dry, shredded
> 2) Whisk the egg with 3 tbsp of water and a little cornflour
> 3) Stir fry the spring onion, mushrooms with 2 tbsp of oil
> 4) Add 6 cup of water (approx. 1/2 liter) until boiled
> 5) Shred spring onion, add all shredded materials to soup
> 6) Add sauce (1) and cornflour solution, stir well until boiled
> 7) Pour the egg solution and stir gently until egg float on surface
> 8) Add sauce (2), mix well and until boiled for 1 minute, serve
>
> Remark
> tbsp - table spoon
> Pig blood can be instead by chicken's - steam blood with 1/3 water in a
> bowl until cooked
> Pig blood - this material is not necessary, but better taste if applied
>
>
>>Most Chinese restaurant versions of hot and sour soup around here (the
>>Baltimore-Washington area) are wimpy, lacking in both black pepper and
>>vinegar. It's best to ask for vinegar on the side (pepper is usually
>>already on the table) to correct the flavor.
>
>
> FWIW (not much), most Chinese restaurant versions here (Germany) are
> also almost always fairly wimpy, but they do usually include hot pepper
> flakes and, at least occasionally, it seems, a bit of hot chilli oil.
> BTW, pepper and vinegar are not always on the table, but hot chilli
> paste (of the sambal oelek type) nearly always is.
>
> Victor

One thing I find quite interesting is that the contents vary
considerably depending on where the recipe is from. Here in the
United States (Boston area, to be more specific), I regard golden
needles and wood ears as necessities. Also, of course, egg, tofu,
scallion, perhaps some shreds of pork. Possibly shredded bamboo
shoots. White pepper, vinegar, a little sesame oil. But I note
that various recipes from what appear to be authentic Chinese
sites seem to be very different. Some have ham in them, and, as
above, some contain blood. I have to say I am not used to
coriander in the soup. Had that recently at some restaurant, and,
not being used to it, it threw the flavor off a bit.

--
Jean B.