Beijing Hot & Sour Noodle Soup from Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
• 2 Thai bird or serrano chilies, chopped, or 1 teaspoon chili paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 6 cups vegetable stock* or water
• 1 stalk lemon grass (remove hard outer layers and use bulb only), finely chopped*
• ½-inch ginger root, peeled and grated
• ½ package Chinese noodles, fresh or dried, about 4 ounces
• 3 quarts water
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch, diluted with ¼ cup cold water
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 3 baby bok choy, trimmed and quartered lengthwise, or 1 cup white cabbage, shredded
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 5 dried wood ear mushrooms (5 ounces), soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, stems removed and shredded; or ½ pound fresh shitake mushrooms, shredded*
• 1 pound chopped, firm tofu, sliced into ½-inch cubes
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels