Chinese Style Soup with Bok Choy, Shiitake and Dried Bean Curds

I often ask my husband for help when I'm deciding on what to cook for dinner.  In fact, deciding on the menu is the toughest part of the dinner preparation process.  He is helpful, well, 30% of the time.  Trust me.  It's better than nothing.  For him, eating was more of a necessity as opposed to an enjoyment.  He eats because he has to, not because he wants to.  He never really had much interest in food before, but I've been trying to open his eyes to the pleasures of food.  Now he spends a lot of time in the kitchen as my designated sous chef, and one day I showed him how to cook his favorite soup and revealed the secret ingredient; vinegar.  Since then, he repeatedly asked for the vinegary soup, and I made it so many times.  Last night, his request was again the vinegary soup.  I normally make the soup with collard greens with apple cider vinegar (he likes it so much that he now even cares what type of vinegar I use!), almost like soupy southern style collared greens.  But it's boring cooking the same thing all the time. It was the time for a change. So I made this Chinese style vinegar soup using dried mushrooms and dried bean cards.

You may have never used dried shiitake mushrooms and/or dried bean curds. They are easy to find at Asian grocery stores.  You need to soak them in water or hot water to soften.  Once they become soft, you can use it just like vegetables. Tori gara soup stock may be another mysterious ingredient for you.  It is a Chinese style dried chicken stock made by Japanese manufactures, generally sold at Asian grocery stores. You can use it  not only for soups but also stir fly sauces, and more.  It is a very useful ingredient that I can't live with out it.  If you have any questions about these ingredients, please leave a comment, and I'll try to answer your questions. By the way, I can't come up with the good name for this dish.  If you have some ideas, let me know!

Chinese Style Sour Soup with Bok Choy, Shiitake, and Bean Curds  Print Recipe Quantity Ingredients 3 dried shiitake mushroom* 3 sticks dried bean curd sticks*(about 20~30g) 2 bunches bok choy 2 tsp cooking oil 1 quart water 2 Tbsp tori gara soup stock* 1 Tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp sugar 1 Tbsp rice vinegor a pinch salt, white pepper 1 tsp sesame oil Directions PREPARATION: Soak the mushrooms and the bean curd sticks in hot water until soften, about 20~30 minutes. Slice the mushrooms and cut bean card sticks into 1.5-inch pieces. Cut bok choy into 1.5-inch pieces separating stalks and leaves. COOK: In a pot, heat 2 teaspoon of oil over medium heat, add bok choy, adding the stalks first then the leaves. Cook for 2~3 minutes until tender. Add the shiitake mushrooms and the bean curds and toss. Add water and bring to a boil. SEASON AND FINISH: Add the gara soup stock, soy sauce, sugar and rice vinegar. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Turn off the heat and pour in sesame oil. Serves 5~6 *Available at Asian grocery stores.