" What On Earth Is In This?" Chinese Mushroom Soup

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 quart reduced-sodium beef broth (1 big tetra-pac)
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 minced shallot
• 1/2 lb ground meat (your choice)
• 5 dried black mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes,de-stemmed and sliced)
• 1/2 cup tree ears, soaked and shredded
• 15 -20 dried lily buds, soaked, trimmed and cut in half
• 1/2 cup shredded bamboo shoot
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot (pre-shredded from a bag)
• 4 ounces cellophane noodles, soaked, drained and cut into 2-inch lengths. (2 pouches, each pouch is twinky-size)
• 2 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar (or more)
• 1 tablespoon mirin or 1 tablespoon sherry wine
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, ground
• 1 -2 tablespoon chili oil (the kind with the seeds and bits floating on the bottom-shake it up before using)
• 1 green onion, chopped (for garnish)

Recipe

• 1 pour stock into big sauce pan, add ginger,garlic and shallots. bring to a boil.
• 2 add ground meat and poach until cooked, breaking into chunks as you go.
• 3 add everything else and simmer for 5-10 minutes, adding more vinegar or chile oil to taste.
• 4 the ingredients soak up a lot of the broth so i didn't bother trying to thicken it.
• 5 ladle into bowls,sprinkle with green onion, and be vague when your dw/dh asks about it.