Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients: ½ lb pork cut into thin strips, 2 Chinese mushrooms cut into strips, 4 mushrooms cut, 1 bamboo shoot cut into strips, 1 piece Szechuan vege sliced, 1 piece of beancurd diced (optional), ½ can of shrimps, V2 oz ginger sliced, sliced onion, 2 or 3 T vinegar, 2 T sherry, salt and pepper to taste, 1 egg lightly beaten.

Method: Heat up some oil in a pot, brown the onion slices and then add 8 cups of water. Add ginger slices and the Szechuan veges. Simmer for 10 minutes, and mix some cornflour with the pork strips and add into soup. Add the rest of the ingredients except the egg. Let simmer for 10 or 15 minutes. Mix 2 T corn flour with a little water and add to the soup to thicken it lightly. Stir in the egg slowly and beat at the same time to produce an egg flower effect. Turn off heat, add some chopped spring onion on to the soup and serve in individual bowls.

Note: Szechuan veges can be substituted by a few dashes of Tobasco sauce.