A Szechuan classic β tofu, wood ear mushroom, bamboo shoot, and egg ribbons in a pork bone broth seasoned with black vinegar, white pepper, and chili oil. Hot from the pepper, sour from the vinegar, deeply satisfying.
Hot and Sour Soup (ι ΈθΎ£ζ±€) is one of the most recognisable dishes in Chinese cooking β and one of the most frequently made poorly in Western Chinese restaurants. The common failure is too much starch (resulting in a gluey, overly thick texture) and artificial sourness from regular vinegar rather than the proper black vinegar that gives the soup its distinctive dark colour and complex acidity.
Ours uses pork bone broth as the base, thickened just enough to coat a spoon without becoming gluey. The sourness comes from Chinkiang black vinegar, added at the end to preserve its brightness. The heat comes from white pepper (which provides a nasal, sharp heat different from chili) plus a small amount of chili oil. Tofu, wood ear mushroom, bamboo shoot, and egg ribbon are the standard inclusions β nothing exotic, nothing unusual. Just done properly.