HOT N SOUR SOUP



I love Chinese food. P.F.Chang's is my favorite restaurant. I always get hot n sour soup when I eat in a Chinese restaurant and Chang's is some of the best I've had. The recipe for the soup is always daunting and there are so many ingredients that I have never given it a try at home. It's just easier to drive by the restaurant and take some home!

Sriracha chile paste, sesame oil, rice vinegar, firm tofu, scallions, dried shitakes, black fungus, soy sauce, bamboo shoots, and dried lilybuds

This week I saw a post on one of my facebook group pages with a recipe for the soup and an explanation about the ingredients so I decided to give it a try! The post explained that you need to have 'lilybuds' to make it authentic, so we went to the Asian grocery and bought some! I knew that the long black strands that were always in my hot n sour soup were something a bit unusual. Who knew they were flowers!



The soup is not hard to make, but it does take time. The result, though, is worth the effort. We all thought it was delicious and tasted every bit as good as what we've had at  PF Chang's.  I'll make it again, but I don't think it will be a soup I make often. It's more of a special treat than something I would cook on a normal basis.

In a couple of weeks, we are having a dinner with friends. It's called "Soup Night" and all the couples bring a homemade soup and we sample all the soups and then vote on our favorite with a prize going to the winning soup. Since we are hosting, my soup won't be in on the voting which is fine. I'm pretty sure I'll make this soup. I hope the others like the flavors of hot n sour.

If anyone wants this recipe, you'll have to let me know. I'll post it if there is interest, but, since it's involved, I'm not going to bother unless there is someone who will actually like to give it a try.