Two posts in one weekend, I know. I haven’t been able to sleep through the night in months. When you’re awake at the crack of dawn on a rainy Sunday, you make soup.

In honor of Chinese New Year next week, I made some hot and sour soup.

I was born in 1992, the year of the monkey. While researching my 2017 zodiac prospects with my cousins, we found from various sources that 2016 was not my year. I believe one source actually said that in 2017, ‘it’ll get better’.

Unless I’m baking, I don’t measure anything. This is a very simple, mindless recipe.

I reconstituted a few dried shiitake and woodear mushrooms in hot water, and I thinly sliced them. I put a pot of chicken stock on the stove to boil. To the pot, I added fresh grated ginger, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, black vinegar, and white wine vinegar (use red vinegar or rice wine vinegar if you have it). Then I thinly sliced canned bamboo shoots and chopped up a fresh block of firm tofu. Throw the mushrooms, tofu, and bamboo into the boiling pot of soup. This is where I added a ridiculous amount of white pepper. Next, I stirred in a slurry of corn starch and chicken stock. The corn starch will thicken the soup as it cools. I turned the stove on low, and slowly drizzled in a beaten egg. I used a fork to stir the egg around the soup to form shreds.

Serve with green onion or cilantro. Enjoy, because it’s really freaking delicious.