The Penalty Box

This one’s an easy one and a stark contrast to the prep work needed for Chicken & 40 Cloves. Here you just need to do some chopping, bring water/stock to a boil, toss stuff in and let it cook for a few minutes before serving. This soup is reputably good for colds, as the pepper in it is good at clearing the sinuses. It’s also good to help you cool down because it makes you sweat a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 cake of tofu (if you don’t like tofu, you can skip this and use meat, like pork tenderloin)
• 1 can of bamboo shoots
• 4 or 5 Chinese mushrooms (you can use Shiitakes)
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp vinegar (increase amount of vinegar if you use any chicken stock)
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 to 2 stalks chopped green onion
• White pepper to taste, but don’t go over 1 Tbsp
• 1.5 Tbsp cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup of water

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. You can sub in cups of chicken stock to your liking.

Cut mushrooms into thin slices. Cut bamboo shoots into strips if they aren’t already. Cut tofu into cubes. When the water/stock is boiling, put everything in except for the cornstarch mixture. Be sure to add things gradually and mixing between items so the liquid comes back to a boil quickly.

In terms of the amount of pepper, 1 Tbsp gives a pretty good kick so if you’re particularly sensitive to pepper, you may want to look at 1/4 to 1/2 Tbsp. You can use black pepper in this case, but white pepper makes the soup look better.
Once everything is boiling for a couple of minutes, you can beat an egg and add it in. Not everyone enjoys the texture that comes with cooking an egg like this though. After the egg, pour the cornstarch mixture in and let the soup thicken up.

This should serve 4 as a side dish. Happy eatings!