Hot & Sour Soup

As soon as I saw this recipe in a round up of soups on The Kitchn last week it immediately went into my "to-make" queue.  In fact, I only waited 2 days before grabbing the ingredients to whip up a pot and I am so glad that I did. Hot and sour soups from Chinese takeout places certainly have their virtues, but this homemade one definitely changes the game for me.

Hard to capture in a photo, but trust me, you will love this

The spicy, tangy broth, laced with ginger, lime and just the right amount of jalapeño heat, is sublime.  The mushrooms add wonderful earthiness, the cabbage adds a slight crunch, and the rice rounds out the texture and substance of the soup to make it a real meal.  This will definitely be a go-to for clearing sinuses and warming the soul throughout the late fall and coming winter.

It also comes together quite easily, though I do have a few notes to help you on your way:

• I definitely recommend using Shiitake mushrooms if you can find them.  They have them dried in our grocery store, which I had never used before, and ended up being very pleased with.  I don't know why, but I had always been intimidated by dried mushrooms.  However, after seeing how well these rehydrated (just a touch of warm water) and how heavenly they smelled when they hit the warm pan, that fear is a thing of the past.
• Buy rubber gloves for chopping up the jalapeños! Please! Particularly if you are contact lens wearer, but also generally if you don't enjoy having your hands and nail beds burning for days.  Can you tell I have made this mistake before?  More than once? Learn from mine.  Also, I used 2 good sized jalapeños (the recipe says 1-3) and thought it provided just the right kick.
• Rather than buying a head of cabbage as the recipe suggests, I got a bag of pre-shredded cabbage (regular size, not the large one) and just used that and it worked very well as a short cut.
• I definitely recommend going with 3 limes (again the recipe says 1-3).  That zingy flavor is really important and I recommend buying an extra to cut into wedges for serving as well.
• The chili garlic sauce referred to as a garnish is this stuff from the makers of Sriracha, which you can now usually find along side it in the grocery store.  I discovered it last year when I was home for Thanksgiving and it is good enough to deserve a post of its own one of these days.  I will say though that a little goes a loooong way, so keep that in mind.

One final thought is that this makes a lot of soup, but it actually re-heats extremely well, maintaining its great texture, and made for a couple great lunches last week.  I hope you enjoy it too!