Tongbai Spicy Soup

Tongbai Spicy Soup

　　Spicy soup also has an elegant name—Eight-Treasure Soup. Calling it “eight treasures” is certainly an exaggeration, but it does reflect the fact that spicy soup contains a wide variety of ingredients. The most common ones include gluten, shredded kelp, cellophane noodles, shredded tofu skin, peanuts, cilantro, minced ginger, pickled mustard tuber, and ground pepper. Depending on the season and region, you might also find beef (or mutton), soybeans, wood ear mushrooms, daylily buds, spinach, shredded radish, and chopped scallions. The cooking process is quite elaborate: first, mix flour with light salt water to form dough, then knead and repeatedly rinse it in water to extract the gluten. Once the water boils, add the gluten. After the gluten is cooked, pour in the starchy water (leftover from rinsing the gluten) into the pot, and simmer over low heat until the soup thickens. Then add the other ingredients and bring to a rapid boil. When serving the soup, top it with pickled mustard tuber and drizzle with sesame oil and vinegar. The result is a thick, fragrant, and satisfying bowl of soup.

Spiciness is the defining characteristic of spicy soup, but it’s not the mouth-numbing kind you get from Chongqing hotpot. Rather, it’s a pleasant heat that tingles the tongue and warms the heart. Sourness comes next—most people add a splash of vinegar to their bowl, creating a delicious interplay between spice and tang. Combined with the complex flavors of the various ingredients, the soup offers a rich, smooth, velvety, and soothing mouthfeel, with plenty of texture to chew on, making it deeply satisfying. There's also another way to enjoy spicy soup: mix half a bowl of it with half a bowl of tofu pudding to create what’s called “liangchan’er” (a blend of two). Tofu pudding sellers often sell spicy soup as well. Just give it a quick stir with a small spoon, and you’ll experience the contrast between the silky, mild, slightly bitter tofu pudding and the thick, sour-spicy, savory spicy soup—an even more delightful combination. Especially on a winter morning, a bowl of this will bring a light sweat to your brow, warm your body, and whet your appetite.