Recipezaar: Szechuan,Soups recipes

Szechuan Shrimp and Noodle Soup

Mon, 29 Jul 2002 19:52:17 -0400

Quick! Quick! Quick! Easy! Easy! Easy! Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! Need I say more? Except that salad and crusty bread would go very nicely! -- posted by ciao

Beer Cheese Soup

Tue, 29 Oct 2002 22:32:24 -0500

Delicious with your favorite home-baked bread. -- posted by Mike from Memphis

Hot and Sour Soup (Betty Foo; Hunan Restaurant)

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 20:46:32 -0400

This is the recipe as taught in the Main Line School Night [winter, 2005] class on Regional Chinese Cooking by Betty Foo, chef & co-owner of the Hunan Restaurant in Ardmore, PA. Betty and her husband are from Hunan and have returned to visit, so the recipe is authentic to the region, both by family history, by recent comparison, and by my own review of Chinese regional cookbooks. Originally a Sichuan regional specialty, hot and sour soup has become a staple at every chinese restaurant, no matter what regional style they claim as a specialty. Clearly, as with many soups, individual variations are easy and can vary the flavor considerably. One of the ways I judge any chinese restaurant the first time I eat there is by the quality of their hot and sour soup ... this one is superb! To make a kosher meat version, replace the pork with (kosher) chicken or turkey and replace the broth with a kosher broth (watch the salt if you use a commercial broth). To make a vegetarian version, use a vegetable broth and add a variety of sliced fresh mushrooms (e.g., shiitake, oyster). To make it vegan, use the above substitutions for vegetarian and skip the eggs. Recipe makes about 48 oz of soup, so you can serve 4 @ 12 oz or 6 @ 8 oz. October 2008 -- addendum. Thanks to all the fellow recipezaar foodies who have tried this recipe ... there have been two major issues raised: the amount of vinegar and the spiciness. Re the vinegar, I went back and asked Betty Foo about the "white distilled" vs "rice" vinegar. So far as she knows, both are the same acidity (5%, marked on the bottle) and while the taste is different (the rice vinegar provides a more subtle flavor), they "should be" equivalent. She noted that rice vinegar comes in a seasoned and unseasoned version (for Marukan, look at the label and the cap color to see the difference), but this shouldn't affect the acidity the vinegar provides. I'll make versions with both vinegars and update this note with some recommendations if I taste a significant difference. Re the spiciness, as noted, this soup comes from Sichuan, known for its love of spiciness. It may be more than you are used to, so by all means, feel free to adjust the pepper components (and other components) to your taste. Also, re substituting fresh mushrooms for the dried, you should know that the dried mushrooms tend to give a more intense and woodsy flavor than fresh ... the opposite of the situation with fresh herbs vs dried. Don't be surprised if you prefer the recipe done with dried mushrooms! Re the ginger, it should be added at step 11, with other spices. It adds to the "hot" flavor by infusing the broth and the pieces add to the texture. You could, if you wanted to increase the "hot" of the pepper and the crunch of the veggies, divide the ginger and add some at the end as a garnish. I prefer not to, simply because I prefer the hot and sour components to be more of a blended flavor ... -- posted by Gandalf The White

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup Szechwan House

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:41:41 -0500

There is a local Chinese place that makes the best Hot and Sour Soup. I saw a similar recipe but it lacked some of the ingredients that they have. Here it is all combined together. Like many Asian dishes it is all in the timing. -- posted by Chef #717185

Hot and Sour Soup (Betty Foo's Recipe, Hunan Restaurant)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:26:48 -0400

This is the recipe as taught in the Main Line School Night class on Regional Chineses Cooking by Betty Foo, chef & co-owner of the Hunan Restaurant in Ardmore PA. Originally a Sichuan regional specialty, hot and sour soup has become a staple at every chinese restaurant, no matter what regional style they have as a specialty. This recipe is authentic to the region, both because Betty is from the region and based on review of Chinese regional cookbooks. Clearly, as with many soups, individual variations are easy and can vary the flavor considerably. One of the ways I judge any chinese restaurant the first time I eat there is by the quality of their hot and sour soup ... this one is superb! -- posted by Gandalf The White

Hotpot Dipping Ingredients (Sichuan)

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:45:21 -0400

Bascially, use your imagination ... almost any vegetable, meat or even seafood, can be used as a dipping ingredient. The key strategy is that each piece should essentially be bite-sized and will cook in a matter of 1-2 minutes at most. Some ingredients (e.g., mushrooms) can be used whole, while others (e.g., chicken breast, pieces of beef) should be sliced paper thin. This list is only a small set of suggestions. The number of servings is clearly unlimited, but I had to fill in a number ... -- posted by Gandalf The White

Plain Hotpot Broth (Sichuan) -- Bai Tang Lu

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:48:21 -0400

Recipezaar has (as of July 2009) 29 hotpot recipes, but all but one of these are not the Chinese style hotpot. The exception (Mongolian Hotpot With Chicken and Shrimp #327359) is listed as Mongolian style hotpot. This recipe, and several that will follow, are authentic Sichuan. The source is Fuschia Dunlop's Land of Plenty, which focuses on Sichuan cuisine. One of her other books, The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, discusses the Hunanese version of hotpot cuisine, which appears to be more similar to the Mongolian than is the Sichuanese. I haven't had this specific recipe, but I have had Sichuan hotpot at several Chengdu and NYC Chinatown Sichuan restaurants ... an absolutely wonderful meal. Fuschia spent several years in Chengdu as a student at Sichuan's most notable cooking school ...IMHO her books are among the most authentic and best sources in English for Sichuanese and Hunanese recipes. The basic process is as follows; Prepare the broth (this recipe) or multiple broths (plain, spicy, vegetarian, etc.). Prepare raw ingredients which will be dipped by each individual guest. Each guest will remove his/her ingredient when cooked to their preference, then dipped in a dipping sauce (there may be 4-12 sauces for the party) and eaten. When all are done with the dipping ingredients, the broth, now flavored from all the dipping ingredients, is served as a soup/broth. Enjoy!! This is heavenly ... like a fondue but so much better!! -- posted by Gandalf The White

Spicy Hotpot Broth (Sichuan) -- Hong Tang Lu

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:48:56 -0400

Recipezaar has (as of July 2009) 29 hotpot recipes, but all but one of these are not the Chinese style hotpot. The exception (Recipe #327359 #327359) is listed as Mongolian style hotpot. This recipe, and several that will follow, are authentic Sichuan. The source is Fuschia Dunlop's Land of Plenty, which focuses on Sichuan cuisine. One of her other books, The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, discusses the Hunanese version of hotpot cuisine, which appears to be more similar to the Mongolian than is the Sichuanese. I haven't had this specific recipe, but I have had Sichuan hotpot at several Chengdu and NYC Chinatown Sichuan restaurants ... an absolutely wonderful meal. Fuschia spent several years in Chengdu as a student at Sichuan's most notable cooking school ...IMHO her books are among the most authentic and best sources in English for Sichuanese and Hunanese recipes. The basic process is as follows; Prepare the broth (this recipe) or broths (plain, spicy, vegetarian, etc.). Prepare raw ingredients which will be dipped by each individual guest. Each guest will remove his/her ingredient when cooked to their preference, then dipped in a dipping sauce (there may be 4-12 sauces for the party) and eaten. When all are done with the dipping ingredients, the broth, now flavored from all the dipping ingredients, is served as a soup/broth. Enjoy!! This is heavenly ... like a fondue but so much better!! -- posted by Gandalf The White