Hot and Sour Soup

I've recently been caught in a very busy time at work - I'm talking almost 60 hour weeks and coming in on the weekends type stuff. I usually have a pretty good work-life balance, but it was thrown out the window when we encountered some very tight deadlines.

I complained about this sudden increased workload to my friend but, instead of getting sympathy like I had expected, I got a "this is not normal for you? I always work 60 hours a week!" 

That shut me up quick.

Luckily, the busy spell is now over and I can share one of my favourite quick meals with you. The bright flavours wake me up and makes it a perfect pick-me-up after a long day. Best of all, it doesn't take very long to make!

My hot and sour soup is mostly made up of staples I have at home - eggs, a stock cube, bamboo shoots and tomatoes and coriander from the garden. The only thing we had to buy on the day was tofu. 

The stock and preserved vegetable packet provides enough salt to the dish, so the only extra flavour that is added is a tablespoon of white vinegar and a table spoon of chili oil to give the soup its hot and sour notes. The bamboo shoots and preserved veggies bring a nice crunch while the tofu brings a softer touch.

Pretty much every Chinese family has their own take on Hot and Sour Soup and this one is just my very own variation. My mother likes to add pork in hers, but I eventually phased that out to make it suitable for my many vegetarian friends. 

What do you like to cook after a long day out? Do you have your own variant of Hot and Sour Soup?

Hot and Sour Soup
A Lucyeats Original

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil
4-6 medium sized tomatoes, sliced into wedges
1 Tbs Shaoxing wine
250g bamboo shoots (in strips)
1 80g packet of preserved vegetables (in strips)
3 cups stock (use chicken or vegetable)
4 medium sized eggs, beaten
2 tsp cornflour
2 Tbs cold water
1 Tbs white vinegar
1 Tbs chili oil
250g block of tofu, roughly sliced into thick strips
white pepper and chopped coriander to serve

Method:

1. Heat up the vegetable oil in a deep saucepan or wok over medium heat. 
2. When the oil gets hot, Add the tomatoes and stir until the skins start to come off. Add the Shaoxing wine and let cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the preserved vegetables, bamboo shoots and stock and bring to a boil.
4. Slowly drizzle the beaten egg into the soup, stirring as you go, to create light egg ribbons.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour and cold water into a slurry. Add the slurry until the soup thickens into the desired consistency.
6. Add the chili oil and white vinegar to taste.
7. Turn off the heat and add tofu.
8. Ladle into bowls and add white pepper and coriander to serve.

Hot and Spicy Tofu Steaks

I cannot believe that I have been blogging for exactly a year now! 

It seems like only yesterday when Asia showed me the Stumbleupon toolbar which introduced me to the wonderful world of food blogging. I have to thank Grace and Kate (the lovely girls in my first ever posts) for helping me come up with the title "Lucyeats" when I got momentarily depressed that "food for thought" was taken.

Firm tofu steaks can be found in the fridge of your local Asian food store

And lastly, I want to thank Jason. The ever supportive boyfriend who doesn't mind being my guinea pig and is always willing to try a new restaurant with me (well.. I suppose it's a win-win situation there). He also reads and edits my posts when I'm feeling tired and bad-at-spelling..

Letting the sauce simmer down

Since I started food blogging, I've suddenly found a common ground with many others around me who were apparently all closet foodies and now I can't get them to shut up!

One of my recent conversations with a family friend of ours started because she noticed that all the food that I had made for a BBQ (Spinach Dip Loaf, Chopped Turkish Salad, Garlic Flat Bread, Potato Gratin) were all european and remarked that it was such a shame that all Chinese children these days (including her own) couldn't cook a Chinese dish to save their own skins and could only make simple things like cupcakes.

Needless to say, I was a little outraged. Can't cook Chinese food? Moi?!

So anyway, I managed to convince her that Chinese food was one of the easiest things to get right as long as you have the essential ingredients that form most dishes: soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, ginger, sugar, and a little chili if you like spicy food. Anything can be made to taste good if you have these in your pantry -like these tofu steaks I cooked up for lunch the other day. Enjoy =) 

Hot and Spicy Tofu Steaks 

Ingredients:


5-8 Tofu steaks (you can find these at your local Asian store. Make sure they're the firm kind)
2 Tablespoons cold water
1 Teaspoon Masterfoods Chilli
1 Tablespoon coriander, chopped
2 Cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Teaspoon brown sugar
Extra coriander for garnish
Oil for frying


Method:


1. Pour enough oil to just cover the bottom of your frying pan (a small one will do)
2. When the oil is hot, fry the garlic till fragrant and carefully place your tofu steaks in the pan. Be careful, as the oil may spit. Give each side about 30 seconds on each side.
3. Turn the heat down to medium and add the rest of the ingredients making sure the brown sugar dissolves completely in the water. 
4. Cover and simmer until the water evaporates and sauce becomes sticky.
5. Garnish with extra coriander before serving.