Excellent recipe!
I tried it over the weekend and it tirned out very well indeed- not to
mention that its so quick and fast as well.
If anyone was wanting another good (fake) hot'n sour soup from the
supermarket, I recommend Thai Kitchen's Tom Yum Hot & Sour Soup. It's a
little on the watery side if you follow direct instrucitons, but that
can easily be remedied with a little extra cornstarch, or using less
water. Another interesting quirk I found when eating hot'n sour soup is
that a little Chinese red vinegar at the bottom of your bowl adds a
good bit of flavor and sweetness, along with a dash of color.
Try these if you get the chance and tell me what you all think.

Ricky

On 6 Apr 2005 21:26:04 -0700, "
> wrote:

>Excellent recipe!
>I tried it over the weekend and it tirned out very well indeed- not to
>mention that its so quick and fast as well.
>If anyone was wanting another good (fake) hot'n sour soup from the
>supermarket, I recommend Thai Kitchen's Tom Yum Hot & Sour Soup. It's a
>little on the watery side if you follow direct instrucitons, but that
>can easily be remedied with a little extra cornstarch, or using less
>water. Another interesting quirk I found when eating hot'n sour soup is
>that a little Chinese red vinegar at the bottom of your bowl adds a
>good bit of flavor and sweetness, along with a dash of color.
>Try these if you get the chance and tell me what you all think.
>
>Ricky

I have never heard of Chinese red vinegar. Is it something that is
readily available in either the Asian section of a major supermarket
or a typical Asian grocery store? Would one be able to use it in a
salad dressing? I live in Los Angeles where Asian ingredients are
easily found and have never seen or heard of it, so I'm just a little
curious.

Ginny

Ginny Sher wrote:
>
> I have never heard of Chinese red vinegar. Is it something that is
> readily available in either the Asian section of a major supermarket
> or a typical Asian grocery store? Would one be able to use it in a
> salad dressing? I live in Los Angeles where Asian ingredients are
> easily found and have never seen or heard of it, so I'm just a little
> curious.

The vinegar used in 'real' hot and sour soup is Chinkiang _black_
vinegar. It's an aged vinegar, sort of the the Chinese equivalent of
balsamic. Readily available in asian stores, certainly can be used in
a salad dressing where you want a strong flavor. Very good in many
dishes, including sweet and sours. Whether it would salvage the 'fake'
soup this thread is about, I dunno. -aem

On 7 Apr 2005 09:01:22 -0700, "aem" > wrote:

>
>Ginny Sher wrote:
>>
>> I have never heard of Chinese red vinegar. Is it something that is
>> readily available in either the Asian section of a major supermarket
>> or a typical Asian grocery store? Would one be able to use it in a
>> salad dressing? I live in Los Angeles where Asian ingredients are
>> easily found and have never seen or heard of it, so I'm just a little
>> curious.
>
>The vinegar used in 'real' hot and sour soup is Chinkiang _black_
>vinegar. It's an aged vinegar, sort of the the Chinese equivalent of
>balsamic. Readily available in asian stores, certainly can be used in
>a salad dressing where you want a strong flavor. Very good in many
>dishes, including sweet and sours. Whether it would salvage the 'fake'
>soup this thread is about, I dunno. -aem


Thanks, aem. I've seen black vinegar, although I have never tried it
in any recipes before. I'll look for the red (and black) stuff next
time I'm in the "Asian" aisle of the market.

Ginny