Hot & Sour Soup

[Marc Dashevsky]

Does anyone remember the hot and sour soup server at Peking Garden on
Waltham Street in the center of Lexingtom? It was of a completely dif-
ferent variety than any other I have had over the years. My guess is
that it was chicken broth with lots of very soft tofu, tree ears, lily
pods, sliced pork, sliced bamboo shoots and scallions. The flavor was
a wonderful mix of sesame, vinegar and something else that was *not*
black pepper. I mention it because now that I'm in New Orleans, I have
discovered this soup at Royal China in Metairie. They load it with sugar,
but they prepare it for me without. Does anyone know the origins of this
style H&S vs. the black pepper kind?

Btw, Royal China offers dim sum every day!

[Dan Logcher]

Post by Marc Dashevsky
Does anyone remember the hot and sour soup server at Peking Garden on
Waltham Street in the center of Lexingtom? It was of a completely dif-
ferent variety than any other I have had over the years. My guess is
that it was chicken broth with lots of very soft tofu, tree ears, lily
pods, sliced pork, sliced bamboo shoots and scallions. The flavor was
a wonderful mix of sesame, vinegar and something else that was *not*
black pepper. I mention it because now that I'm in New Orleans, I have
discovered this soup at Royal China in Metairie. They load it with sugar,
but they prepare it for me without. Does anyone know the origins of this
style H&S vs. the black pepper kind?

I do remember that H&S soup. We used to go there regularly before the
Great Wall opened in Bedford. They had a Sunday brunch that was sort of
like dim sum, but not the usual items.

[Cheryl Isaak]

Post by Marc Dashevsky
Does anyone remember the hot and sour soup server at Peking Garden
on Waltham Street in the center of Lexingtom? It was of a completely
dif- ferent variety than any other I have had over the years. My
guess is that it was chicken broth with lots of very soft tofu, tree
ears, lily pods, sliced pork, sliced bamboo shoots and scallions. The
flavor was a wonderful mix of sesame, vinegar and something else that
was *not* black pepper. I mention it because now that I'm in New
Orleans, I have discovered this soup at Royal China in Metairie. They
load it with sugar, but they prepare it for me without. Does anyone
know the origins of this style H&S vs. the black pepper kind?
Btw, Royal China offers dim sum every day!

my bet (I've made several different recipes) is either they used
Schezwan peppercorns or toasted white peppercorns. Used both and IMHO
the Schezwan peppercorns come closest. The other key ingredient was a
type of Chinese "red vinegar"

My favorite recipe is in the 1000 Recipe Chinese CookBook - tons of work
and lots of things I'm not finding in NH. (Yes, one of these days, I
have to hit H-Market, but life has to cooperate)

C

(ps - I could be bribed into meeting there at lunch, but not for the
next two weeks - LAX tryouts and all that)