Due the recent layoff notices received by a couple of the usual
suspects, weekly wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings has been cancelled.
Instead, the gang has begun gathering at one house or another and
preparing their own wings and munchies.

No, there aren't headache inducing noise levels, moronic blondes messing
up their orders and failing to bring drink refills, and to replicate the
actual atmosphere in the restaurant, you'd have to set fire to some old
tires, but, on the other hand, it's a lot cheaper and you can afford
extra beer.

So Friday night DD and boyfriend hosted and DD insisted that she wanted
hot and sour soup in addition to the wings. "Heresy", cried the peanut
gallery. And yet she persevered.

A "shopping trip" to mom's pantry yielded one large pot, three cans of
chicken broth, soy sauce, white pepper, red pepper flakes, rice vinegar,
sesame oil, corn starch, bamboo shoots. The rest required a trip to the
grocery store, where the additional ingredients would up costing
approximately $17.00 (DD opted for liberal amounts of shrimp instead of
chicken or pork, plus snow peas).

The brew was prepared and offered up alongside the traditional wings.
And even the doubters, the ones who claimed to like neither chinese food
nor shrimp, scarfed it down. There were no leftovers.

Rog's Hot and Sour Soup

3 (14.25 oz) cans chicken broth
3tbsp soy sauce
5tbsp vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
3Tbsp Cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 egg (beaten)
1/2 lb. boneless pork (cooked) cut into thin strips – OR
½ lb.boneless cooked chicken – OR ½ to 1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and
de-veined
Optional 1 cup green peas
Optional ¼ lb. fresh snow pea pods
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, sliced
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 pound tofu (I prefer "very firm" tofu)
2 tsp sesame oil
Bring the soup/broth to a boil
Add soy sauce, vinegar, white pepper, red pepper flakes, mushrooms, pork
and bamboo shoots and the green peas, if you’re using them

Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Add tofu and bring to a boil
This is when you would add snowpeas, so that they don't lose their color.

In the 1/4 cup cold water dissolve the 3 Tbsp. (more for thicker soup)
Cornstarch. Add 1/2 cup of hot soup to Cornstarch mixture. Stirring soup
slowly add cornstarch mixture.

Slowly stirring slowly add beaten egg. The thinner the "egg stream" the
finer the egg pieces will be in the soup.

Sauté the shrimp if not already cooked...if the shrimp are cooked then
"quickly sauté" and then add to mixture.

If the soup is not dark enough for you add a couple more shots of soy
sauce until desired shade is reached.

Sprinkle with the sesame oil and green onions and serve.

The important part to remember is the mixture of the "vinegar/soy
sauce/white pepper/red pepper flakes" that adds the flavor. Never
change the volume of broth/soup you are using without adjusting that
mixture appropriately. You can play with the cornstarch depending on how
thick you like it.

If the soup is going to be standing for more than a few minutes postpone
adding the snow peas and shrimp as the snow peas will lose their color,
and the shrimp will overcook.

Kathleen’s notes:
Do all the cutting and chopping in advance, and have everything ready to
go. Once you start cooking, things get added in rapid sequence.

I usually skip the chicken and pork and add lots of shrimp. I briefly
stir-fried the shrimp, cooking them only to the point where they were
beginning to turn pink, before adding them to the hot soup (this
completes their cooking and doesn’t cause them to become tough).

Matchsticked carrots are a nice extra as are sliced water chestnuts. I
always use the whole block of tofu. An extra egg is another easy way to
add protein.