Recipes Soup Hot-and-Sour Meatball Soup 4.0 (1) 1 Review This version of hot-and-sour soup from Food & Wine’s Laura Rege is light and brothy, with juicy little shrimp-and-pork meatballs throughout. Slideshow: More Meatball Soup Recipes By Laura Rege Laura Rege Instagram Website Laura Rege is a classically trained chef and veteran of both the Martha Stewart and Food & Wine test kitchens. For the past 15 years, Laura has been creating recipes and styling food for magazines, cookbooks, and food-driven websitesExpertise: food styling, recipe development.Experience: Laura Rege is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in New York City. After serving as a senior member of the editorial teams at Food & Wine and Martha Stewart Living, Laura now runs her own company contributing mouthwatering recipes, food styling, and writing for media and food brands. Her work can be found in Shape and Rachael Ray In Season, among others. When she isn't in the kitchen, Laura is most likely still thinking about food, while scouting out the best new restaurants and products for traveling. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 1, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Eastern Chinese cuisine features a lot of sweet-and-sour, mostly derived from Chinkiang vinegar, better known as black vinegar. Resembling soy sauce, it is made from glutinous rice and cereal grains, and is even milder in its acidity than most Japanese rice vinegars but with a deeper flavor, making it great for braises and glazes. Sesame oil, traditionally used in Chinese cooking, has a rich mouthfeel that helps give body to black vinegar.Our favorite bottles: Hegshun Chinkiang Zhenjiang 6 Year Aged Black Vinegar,$16 at amazon.com Kadoya Sesame Oil,$6.50 at jet.comUse them in:Hot-and-sour meatball soup. Photo: Abby Hocking / Food & Wine Total Time: 40 mins Yield: 4 Ingredients 3/4 ounce dried wood ear mushrooms Three 1-inch pieces peeled ginger, 2 pieces cut into thin matchsticks 2 scallions, chopped, plus thinly sliced scallions for garnish 1 garlic clove 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/2 pound fatty ground pork 6 tablespoons black vinegar Kosher salt White pepper 6 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth 1 large egg, beaten with a pinch of salt 1/2 pound firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch pieces One 8-ounce can sliced bamboo shoots, drained 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil Directions In a small heatproof bowl, cover the mushrooms with boiling water and let stand until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the uncut piece of ginger with the chopped scallions and garlic. Add the shrimp and pulse to chop. Scrape the mixture into a bowl; fold in the pork, 1 tablespoon of the black vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Roll into twenty 1-inch balls; transfer to a baking sheet. In a large pot, bring the stock and half of the ginger matchsticks to a simmer over moderately high heat. Using a circular motion, pour the beaten egg into the broth. Wait 5 seconds, then stir the broth to distribute the egg throughout. Add the meatballs, drained mushrooms, tofu and bamboo shoots and simmer over moderate heat until the meatballs are just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the vinegar, the sesame oil and a pinch of pepper. Season with salt. In a small bowl, stir the remaining ginger matchsticks into the remaining 2 tablespoons of black vinegar. Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with sliced scallions and serve hot with the ginger-vinegar mixture. Make Ahead The recipe can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight. Rate it Print