Re: pork chops

salgud said:

Based on our conversation in this thread, last week I bought some
Chinese black vinegar and made Sweet & Sour this weekend. I found that
I liked the flavor with the black vinegar, but missed the tartness I
can get with Malt Vinegar. Unlike most Americans, I don't like the
sugary syrup most Chinese restaurants serve here for Sweet & Sour. I
never order it out unless I know that the restaurant makes their S&S
less sweet. The black vinegar was tasty, but very sweet. So I ended up
adding malt vinegar to get the tartness. The combo gives a nice flavor,
somewhat richer than it is without the black vinegar. [snip]

I don't think of it as sweetness exactly, but I know what you mean.
It's like balsamic vinegar. Your combination sounds good. Now that
you've got the black vinegar, try it in hot and sour soup, too. -aem

aem said:

salgud said:

Based on our conversation in this thread, last week I bought some
Chinese black vinegar and made Sweet & Sour this weekend. I found that
I liked the flavor with the black vinegar, but missed the tartness I
can get with Malt Vinegar. Unlike most Americans, I don't like the
sugary syrup most Chinese restaurants serve here for Sweet & Sour. I
never order it out unless I know that the restaurant makes their S&S
less sweet. The black vinegar was tasty, but very sweet. So I ended up
adding malt vinegar to get the tartness. The combo gives a nice flavor,
somewhat richer than it is without the black vinegar. [snip]

I don't think of it as sweetness exactly, but I know what you mean.
It's like balsamic vinegar. Your combination sounds good. Now that
you've got the black vinegar, try it in hot and sour soup, too. -aem

I've never made hot and sour soup. But I love the stuff. One of the
better Vietnamese restaurants in the Denver metro area makes the best
hot & sour I've ever tasted. Very spicy. If I could get their recipe,
I'd be mainlining and bathing in the stuff! Do you have a recipe? Is it
pretty spicey? If so, I'd love to try it.

salgud said:

I've never made hot and sour soup. But I love the stuff. One of the
better Vietnamese restaurants in the Denver metro area makes the best
hot & sour I've ever tasted. Very spicy. If I could get their recipe,
I'd be mainlining and bathing in the stuff! Do you have a recipe? Is it
pretty spicey? If so, I'd love to try it.

Sorry, my favorite recipe for it is in "Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan
Cookbook," published some 30 years ago and still classic in my mind.
But it's in some packing box somewhere and I haven't found it.

You can make hot and sour soup as spicy as you like, using black pepper
and red chile flakes. Look for a recipe that includes fungi like tree
ear, and julienned bamboo shoots. Contrasting textures of ingredients
are an important aspect of the dish. -aem

aem said:

salgud said:

I've never made hot and sour soup. But I love the stuff. One of the
better Vietnamese restaurants in the Denver metro area makes the best
hot & sour I've ever tasted. Very spicy. If I could get their recipe,
I'd be mainlining and bathing in the stuff! Do you have a recipe? Is it
pretty spicey? If so, I'd love to try it.

Sorry, my favorite recipe for it is in "Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan
Cookbook," published some 30 years ago and still classic in my mind.
But it's in some packing box somewhere and I haven't found it.

You can make hot and sour soup as spicy as you like, using black pepper
and red chile flakes. Look for a recipe that includes fungi like tree
ear, and julienned bamboo shoots. Contrasting textures of ingredients
are an important aspect of the dish. -aem

Got a few of those boxex somewhere in my basement too!
Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

salgud said:

I've never made hot and sour soup. But I love the stuff. One of the
better Vietnamese restaurants in the Denver metro area makes the best
hot & sour I've ever tasted. Very spicy. If I could get their recipe,
I'd be mainlining and bathing in the stuff! Do you have a recipe? Is it
pretty spicey? If so, I'd love to try it.

So, what kind of hot & sour soup is it, then? It is, you say, made by a
Vietnamese restaurant. This muddles the waters more than a bit. If it
is a Vietnamese soup, _canh chua_, it is much closer to the Thai _tom
yum_ than to any of the Chinese versions, which are usually
transliterated as _suan la tang_. In fact, there is hardly any
resemblance at all. Yet all of them can and are very often
translated/described as "hot & sour soup" - and rightly so.

Victor

Victor Sack said:

salgud said:

I've never made hot and sour soup. But I love the stuff. One of the
better Vietnamese restaurants in the Denver metro area makes the best
hot & sour I've ever tasted. Very spicy. If I could get their recipe,
I'd be mainlining and bathing in the stuff! Do you have a recipe? Is it
pretty spicey? If so, I'd love to try it.

So, what kind of hot & sour soup is it, then?

I don't know how to describe it very well. It's spicier than any I've
ever had a the many Chinese restaurants I've eaten it in. It has the
"usual" ingredients, like bamboo shoots and those noodley things, but
there's more in it than that. I've notice some small, bright red bits,
and some bits of scallion. I'll have to take a better look next time
I'm over there, which will probably be a while, since I rarely go to
that part of town.

It is, you say, made by a

Quoted message said:

Vietnamese restaurant. This muddles the waters more than a bit. If it
is a Vietnamese soup, _canh chua_, it is much closer to the Thai _tom
yum_ than to any of the Chinese versions, which are usually
transliterated as _suan la tang_. In fact, there is hardly any
resemblance at all. Yet all of them can and are very often
translated/described as "hot & sour soup" - and rightly so.

Victor

You know a lot more about the soup and the language than I do. I have
wondered about whether or not hot & sour was a Vietnamese thing, since
it's the only Vietnamese restaurant I can remember having it. In any
case, it's the best I've taste. I frequently buy and extra pint of it
to take home.

salgud said:

Victor Sack said:

So, what kind of hot & sour soup is it, then?

I don't know how to describe it very well. It's spicier than any I've
ever had a the many Chinese restaurants I've eaten it in. It has the
"usual" ingredients, like bamboo shoots and those noodley things, but
there's more in it than that. I've notice some small, bright red bits,
and some bits of scallion.

It sounds like a Chinese version, not anything like a Vietnamese or Thai
sour and hot soup, though bamboo shoots are sometimes encountered in
Thai tom yum versions. No noodley things, though.

Here is what appears to be a nice version said to be from Shanghai:
<http://www.student.nvcc.edu/home/chhuang/project2/soup1.htm>. I posted
it about a year ago.

Victor

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

Victor Sack said:

salgud said:

Victor Sack said:

So, what kind of hot & sour soup is it, then?

I don't know how to describe it very well. It's spicier than any I've
ever had a the many Chinese restaurants I've eaten it in. It has the
"usual" ingredients, like bamboo shoots and those noodley things, but
there's more in it than that. I've notice some small, bright red bits,
and some bits of scallion.

It sounds like a Chinese version, not anything like a Vietnamese or Thai
sour and hot soup, though bamboo shoots are sometimes encountered in
Thai tom yum versions. No noodley things, though.

I hadn't been to that restaurant in a while. I ate there yesterday. For
sure there was tofu, bamboo shoots, small bits of wonton, the dark
brown stuff that's sometimes used in Miso soup. No meat I could detect.

I also noted that it's a "Vietnames and Chinese" restaurant, which
probably explains the Sweet & Sour soup not being Vietnamese.

Quoted message said:

Here is what appears to be a nice version said to be from Shanghai:
<http://www.student.nvcc.edu/home/chhuang/project2/soup1.htm>. I posted
it about a year ago.

Victor

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