Sichuan Hot & Sour Soup

4-6 servings

6 dried cloud ear mushrooms
6 dried Chinese black mushrooms (shiitake)
6 dried tiger lily buds
4.5 cups double-strength chicken broth
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon sesame (or peanut) oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/3 pound boneless pork or chicken, cut in long thin strips
1 tofu cake, cut in thin strips or 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, cut in thin strips
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons Chinese red rice vinegar
2 teaspoons thinly sliced green onion
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon white pepper or Chile Oil
Sugar to taste

Pour boiling water over cloud ears, mushrooms and tigerlily buds. Let soak 15 minutes. Drain; cut off woody stems of mushrooms and hard tips of buds, then slice mushrooms and buds very thinly. Set aside.

Heat broth in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, heat peanut & sesame oil in a work or large skillet; when oil is hot, sprinkle on soy sauce. Add meat and stir-fry until crisp on edges (~ 3 minutes). Add sliced mushrooms and tigerlily buds and stir to brown lightly. Then add meat-mushroom mixture to broth and stir well; stir in tofu and bamboo shoots. When soup comes to a gentle simmer, pour in beaten eggs, stirring soup with a swirling motion. As soon as eggs start to cook, remove soup from heat.

Rinse 1 large serving bowl with boiling water. Then mix vinegar, green onion, 2 teaspoons sesame oil and chile oil in bowl. Taste soup & adjust seasonings. Add sugar if less sour taste is desired. Stir to mix the cloudlike shreds of egg evenly, then pour into serving bowl.