hot sour soup

My lips are burning, as if I had applied habanero flavored ChapStick®, and it’s not going away. When, oh when, will I learn to stop overdoing it with that habanero powder? Never, that’s when!

I have no bamboo shoots, not in a can even. This must be corrected immediately. I mean come'on, no pantry worth its Pantry Certification is ever bamboo shoot-less or without water chestnuts, because you never know when the urge for an Asian dish will come upon you, and you must at least have the basics on hand. Epic fail. So I put spinach in instead because I have a lot of that and because I like it better than canned bamboo shoots anyway. Do you know fresh bamboo shoots do not keep for more than a couple of days? They stink up the whole refrigerator something terrible.


* onions, celery, and garlic sweated in the pot in olive oil with habanero powder added when finished
* home-made chicken broth
* thickened with corn syrup
* rice vinegar
* prepared sauces that make things Japanese
a) mirin for sweetness instead of sugar
b) fish sauce for saltiness
c) soy sauce for umami (fifth taste sensation) and also saltiness
d) toasted sesame oil
* mushrooms (my last two. Yay! I used the whole box without waste)
* beaten egg drizzled into soup forming strands
* shredded spinach
* sliced frozen chicken tenders

See what's going on here? Sour + sweet + hotness, thickened, vegetables + protein

☒ bitter
☑ sweet
☑ sour
☑ salty
☑ umami
☑ oil (unsaturated)
☑ carbohydrates (slow)
☑ protein