Updated 1/6/13: Tonight we had hot and sour soup as our main dish. I used canned straw mushrooms this time. The recipe makes 2 big bowls or 4 small bowls. __________________________________________________________________
I love leftovers! I’m sitting at my desk eating leftover Chinese Pan Fried Noodles that I made last week and Chinese Hot & Sour Soup that I made last night. I used most of the ingredients in Garret McCord’s recipe for Chinese Hot and Sour Soup, but I only had fresh shitake mushrooms (if you read his post, he has a fun description about how the type of mushroom is very important to family recipes). I also took a tip from Wandering Chopsticks to add the eggs before the vinegar to keep the egg from making the soup murky.

1/2 can straw mushrooms or fresh mushrooms (for other mushrooms that should go in this recipe or how to deal with dried mushrooms, check out the recipes that I link to above)
4 cups vegetable stock
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce (this really depends on how strong & salty your stock is to begin with)
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper (not black pepper!)
1/2 can bamboo shoots
1/2 package firm tofu cut into cubes (optional)
1 egg beaten
2-3 tablespoons vinegar (I used 2 of rice vinegar and 1 of white since we don’t have black vinegar)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
More salt if necessary

1. If using fresh mushrooms, saute them in a little sesame oil in a medium sauce pan otherwise throw in fresh or soaked dried mushrooms directly.
2. Add stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, bamboo shoots, and tofu, and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium and slowly pour in a stream of eggs. Eggs should form little strings.
4. Add the vinegar.
5. Mix cornstarch into a bit of cold water and then mix into soup. Once the soup is thickened a little, check for saltiness and add if necessary.