Sichuan Cuisine · FFET10215
Suanla tang (hot and sour soup)
Suanla tang is a thickened soup seasoned with white pepper and vinegar and finished with egg, also a fixture of noodle shops in Taiwan.
A deep white porcelain bowl has thick brown soup with marinated pork shreds, shiitake, black wood ear, bamboo and ginger strips, orange carrot, white tofu and pale egg ribbons, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
The regional cooking of Sichuan and Chongqing, known for its wide range of flavour types.
Suanla tang is a thickened hot soup, commonly made with shredded pork, tofu, wood ear, shiitake, bamboo shoots and egg ribbons, and seasoned with white pepper and vinegar. Accounts of its origin differ: the claim of a Sichuan origin may be original research; another view holds that it is a variant of Henan’s hulatang, while some experts think hulatang developed from suanla tang. Accounts of Han-dynasty medicinal use and a Qing invention give no exact date, and no dated record was found.
What
Suanla tang is a thickened hot soup, usually made with shredded pork, tofu, wood ear and shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and egg ribbons, and given its sour and peppery taste by white pepper and vinegar.1,3,5,6
When
Accounts mention Han-dynasty medicinal use and a Qing invention, but neither gives an exact date, and no dated record was found, so neither establishes a date.5
Where
Accounts differ: a Sichuan origin and classification among Chengdu-school home dishes may both be original research; another view holds that it is a variant of Henan’s hulatang, while some experts think hulatang developed from suanla tang. It is also a staple in Taiwan’s noodle shops.1,2,3,4
How
Stock is simmered with mushrooms, wood ear and bamboo shoots, marinated pork and tofu are added, a cornstarch slurry thickens it, and beaten egg is drizzled in; the white pepper and vinegar go in at the end and are adjusted to taste.5,6
Why
One account, for which no supporting source is given, holds that the soup began as a way for poorer people to warm up in cold weather, explaining its generous use of white pepper.5
Impact and influence
Versions vary by place, including a thicker soup in the United States and a dashi-based one in Japan. It is also a Chinese American takeout staple.3,6
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is my home version of hot and sour soup. The amounts mostly follow the Sichuan home-style recipe by a named author on a recipe blog: chicken stock, shredded pork, shiitake, wood ear, bamboo shoots, carrot and soft tofu, with the black vinegar and white pepper added off the heat. The ingredients that recipe gives no amount for (bamboo shoots, ginger, sesame oil) and the seasonings for the pork are my own choices at home. A second recipe, by another named author, is a Chinese American takeout version rather than a Sichuan one, and I note how it differs in the tips.
Ingredients
- Unsalted chicken stock 1,200 ml
- Shredded pork 50 g
- Pork marinade 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, a pinch each of sugar and salt, 1 teaspoon starch (my own choices)
- Shiitake mushrooms 3, sliced into shreds
- Soaked wood ear about 60 ml (1/4 cup), shredded
- Bamboo shoot strips about 40 g (my own choice)
- Carrot 1/3, shredded
- Ginger shreds a little (my own choice)
- Soft tofu 50 g, shredded
- Light soy sauce 30 ml (2 tablespoons)
- Dark soy sauce 5 ml (1 teaspoon)
- Salt 1 teaspoon
- Sugar 1/2 tablespoon
- Cornstarch slurry 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
- Egg 1, beaten
- Black vinegar 45 ml (3 tablespoons)
- White pepper 2 teaspoons
- Sesame oil a few drops (my own choice)
Steps
- Mix the pork with the light soy sauce, sugar, salt and starch and let it marinate a while. Dried wood ear needs to be soaked beforehand. Shred the mushrooms, wood ear, bamboo shoots, carrot, ginger and tofu.
- Pour the stock into a pot and add the mushrooms, wood ear, bamboo shoots, carrot and ginger. Simmer for about 15 minutes, the time given by the Sichuan home-style recipe.
- Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and sugar and simmer about 2 more minutes, again as that recipe says.
- Add the tofu and the marinated pork, separating the shreds, and cook until the pork has changed color and is cooked through.
- Stir the slurry well and pour it in a little at a time, stirring as you go, and stop when the soup has thickened.
- Drizzle the beaten egg in slowly in a circle and, once the ribbons have set, stir them gently apart.
- Turn off the heat, stir in the black vinegar and white pepper, taste and adjust, add a few drops of sesame oil, and serve.
Tips
- As the Sichuan home-style recipe does, I add the vinegar and white pepper only after turning off the heat; I start with a little and taste before adding more, since every household likes it differently. That last part is my own habit.
- The other named author’s recipe is a Chinese American takeout version: it uses white vinegar, adds dried lily flowers and spiced dry tofu, and makes a larger pot for 6 people. It is not the Sichuan style, so I did not follow it.
Allergens: soy, wheat, egg, sesame