Notes:
Mushrooms – for the most authentic flavour, use dried shiitake mushrooms. The flavour is more intense than fresh, and the texture is better. If you discover it’s still firm in the middle when slicing, put in broth first to finish rehydrating. Best sub is sis brown/cremini mushrooms, or other Asian mushrooms.
Wood ear mushrooms are also an essential ingredient for a true Chinese restaurant experience (see post for more info). Sold at some grocery stores and Asian groceries. If dried, soak with shiitake for 30 min. Can be skipped – use more shiitake.
Chilli: authentic versions use finely chopped dried Asian chillies. Deseed to make them less spicy. Red pepper / chilli flakes is a fine to use too – really can’t taste the difference.
Soy sauce: can sub dark soy with more light soy, or both for all purpose soy sauce. Do not use just dark soy sauce, broth flavour too strong.
Tofu: must be firm so it doesn’t disintegrate when soup is stirred. Just feel the packet – the firmer the better (but not rock hard!). If you can only find soft tofu, stir it in gently right at the end
Bamboo shoots: sold sliced in tins sold at large supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. Need approx 1/3 of a 230g/7oz can. Use leftovers in stir fries, terrific texture!
Storage / reheating: It keeps 100% perfectly in the fridge, I’ve been known to keep it up to 5 days. Reheat on the stove. Freezing will affect the thickness because cornflour/cornstarch doesn’t work as well once frozen. Easy fix – just thaw, reheat and add more cornflour/water mixture until it’s the thickness you want (follow same recipe steps to slowly add while stirring).
Pork option: Or, you’re welcome to make this with pork instead of tofu. Just add in a half pound of cooked pork — ground pork, or you can thinly-slice pork chops or pork loin — in place of the tofu.
White pepper: You can use a pinch of white pepper in this soup instead of black pepper. But if you are new to cooking with white pepper, heads up that it has a much stronger (and slightly) different flavor than black pepper! I recommend starting with a small pinch, then you can always add more to taste
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