Vegetarian Hot And Sour Soup

I adapted this from: Vegetarian Chinese Cooking by Wendy Lee

4 Mushrooms (reconstituted from Dried Shitake mushroom or similar kind)
1/4 tub of Firm tofu, diced into thin strips
1 cup canned bamboo shoots (optional) cut into thin strips
2 cups of veg stock and 1 cup of water
1/4 cup peas (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar (rice or white wine)
2 tbsp cornstarch
salt and pepper
sesame oil to garnish (optional)

o Boil 1 cup of water; take off heat and put mushrooms in it; soak for 25 mins
o Later take mushrooms off and cut to thin strips, removing the stems in the center
o reserve the mushroom liquid; Reconstituted mushrooms give out huge amount of umami in the liquid
o Bring stock and water to boil
o Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu and peas; simmer for 5 mins
o Mix soy sauce, vinegar and cornstarch and add 2 tbsp mushroom liquid
o Stir into soup with mushroom liquid; bring to a boil
o Add plenty of pepper and salt to taste; optionally add 1 tbsp sugar; taste the soup as you season; simmer for 2 mins
o Serve in bowls with drops of sesame oil in each

The soup comes out quite good comparable to the soup from chinese takeouts. Mushroom's umami makes it very tasty. You can also make it without mushrooms but the taste will be different. Similarly you can also omit the stock. But these steps remove flavor from the soup. This spicy soup is very good for cold wintery evenings. Good amount of pepper can clear sinus. Tanginess of the vinegar can invigorate the palette.